Public tracks in Jacksonville, FL?

Technically, none of them are public. The Duval County school board recently cut Cross Country/Track and Field funding so all of the teams are making ends meet through donations/fundraising.

anyone else with any ideas?

There's an elite private school there where our college team did workouts during spring break years back. They might let you. But you might also substitute a measured course with no traffic for the track as many in Savannah were forced to do last year with success. While Savannah State's track was out of commission for a new football stadium, their team and SCAD's ran workouts on grass and produced many mid and long distance pr's. Honestly, though, what is it about closing off track access? Crazy.

UNF has a practice track right beside the mondo, that you can run on any time.

Welcome to my hometown! Every Wednesday night you can find a large group at Bolles high school on the Southside (right on San Jose blvd). Very nice new mondo track. The group will be a bunch of regulars from the Jax track club of all abilities. Hell, you might even get to run with my dad.

Also, contrary to what the second poster wrote, the initial decision of the school board was to cut XC, but enough donations were made to a fund started by a running store called 1st Place Sports to save the entire season. Every high school in the county has the opportunity to run a full XC season now. Anyway, you csn get on the tracks of most of the public high schools after xc practice is over. Just adi a coach or something. Mandarin, Wolfson, Sandalwood all have nice mondo type tracks and are in communities with a decent number of runners, so you might even find someone to run with there.

Also, I mentioned 1st Place Sports running store - there are 4 locations now. I know the Baymeadows Ed and Ponte Vedra beach locations have groups that meet for runs periodically through the week. You'll find all levels right on up to the local elites meeting there for runs.

You can get in some good long runs withou. Much traffic in the Mandarin area. Ask for the Jax marathon course map from 1st Place - run on the portion that goes down Beauclerc rd, Forest circle, Scott Mill rd, and Mandarin rd. You could do 20+ mile long runs with very little traffic to deal with and with certified mile markers painted on the roads. Nice.

Enjoy Jax. Check out the local racing schedule too.

I'm interested in this too. I like near the regency mall and was wondering if there were and middle or high schools with running tracks? Or maybe a nice park with designated running paths or trails??

I run at the Arboretum right near Regency Mall. You have to watch the ground at all times to make sure you don't trip on roots, but the ground is spongy and it's shady.

Bump to an old thread. I just moved back to Jax. Does UNF have particular hours for track access? Is the practice track open all hours?

I'm looking for a public track for workouts on the Westside 32210 - I checked Ed White (closed) Jeb Stuart (closed)

I would just drive a local high school track around 530 to 7pm and see if they're open/unlocked. My local high school track has signs all over it saying no trespassing, but I assumed they're talking about when its al locked up. When I get there, it's always unlocked and open, so I do my workout and get out. If I got there and it was locked up and jumping the fence or squeezing through a hole in the fence, then I'm asking for trouble, but if it's open I walk in like I own the place. Use your judgment.

FL guy who runs wrote:

I would just drive a local high school track around 530 to 7pm and see if they're open/unlocked. My local high school track has signs all over it saying no trespassing, but I assumed they're talking about when its al locked up. When I get there, it's always unlocked and open, so I do my workout and get out. If I got there and it was locked up and jumping the fence or squeezing through a hole in the fence, then I'm asking for trouble, but if it's open I walk in like I own the place. Use your judgment.

In FL, no public HS track is "open to the public" at any time. You cannot use the facility without prior approval which is unlikely to be granted due to insurance reasons.

You can use it, but you are also subject to being pleasantly asked, ordered to leave or forcibly removed by authorities. Technically, you are also subject to an unlikely arrest.

Mr. or Ms Genda Benda,If you will read below the quotes, Mr. Paul Soares, Chief Officer of Operations Support for Duval County Public Schools says there are several schools open to the public for excercise. (This was 2014, I'm not sure if Mr. Soares is still the chief officer, however, I haven't heard of this policy changing.)

FL guy who runs wrote:

I would just drive a local high school track around 530 to 7pm and see if they're open/unlocked. My local high school track has signs all over it saying no trespassing, but I assumed they're talking about when its al locked up. When I get there, it's always unlocked and open, so I do my workout and get out. If I got there and it was locked up and jumping the fence or squeezing through a hole in the fence, then I'm asking for trouble, but if it's open I walk in like I own the place. Use your judgment.

In FL, no public HS track is "open to the public" at any time. You cannot use the facility without prior approval which is unlikely to be granted due to insurance reasons.

You can use it, but you are also subject to being pleasantly asked, ordered to leave or forcibly removed by authorities. Technically, you are also subject to an unlikely arrest.[/quote]

Paul Soares, chief officer of operations support for Duval County Public Schools, said they haven’t made any changes to limit public access to facilities after hours. But for the past 10 or 15 years they have secured the track areas at middle and high schools due to vandalism and liability issues. He points out that there are more than 80 schools with recreational areas of various types that are available to the public as city parks after school hours through dual use agreements with the city.

Contrary to what Genda Benda has said. The latest I've heard is:

Paul Soares, chief officer of operations support for Duval County Public Schools, said they haven’t made any changes to limit public access to facilities after hours. But for the past 10 or 15 years they have secured the track areas at middle and high schools due to vandalism and liability issues. He points out that there are more than 80 schools with recreational areas of various types that are available to the public as city parks after school hours through dual use agreements with the city.

Literally just hop the fence. It’s a rubber circle.

UNF is a good place to run at. They have a 3 lane practice track that was newly resurfaced. Before the resurfacing, I had used it many times and have never had a problem. However, if you choose to use their main track, you will be asked to leave if an employee sees you. Then you can just switch to the practice track.