I don’t know about you, but I am super excited for this weekend. For the first time in four years, St. John will welcome more than 1,000 runners to the island for the annual 8 Tuff Miles road race. If you are lucky enough to be on island Saturday, you aren’t going to want to miss this!
8 Tuff Miles is an annual road race that starts in Cruz Bay and ends in Coral Bay. The last race was held in February 2020. It has been cancelled ever since due to Covid and other circumstances. I am thrilled to welcome it back this weekend!
Runners participating in 8 Tuff Miles will start behind the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay at 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning. The race goes through Cruz Bay and up to the roundabout before heading up Centerline Road (Route 10 on the map) and all the way out to the ball field in Coral Bay. The race starts at sea level (technically five feet about sea level), reaches an elevation of 1,000 feet out near the Bordeaux Mountain and Mamey Peak areas and then heads back down to sea level where it ends in Coral Bay. The race is 8.38 miles to be exact.
Centerline Road (Route 10) will close at 7:10 a.m. on Saturday morning and will not reopen fully until 10:15 a.m. when the race is over. The road will reopen from west to east (Cruz Bay to Coral Bay) after the last walker passes that point. If you are staying in Coral Bay, you will not be able to drive down Centerline Road during this time. So if you want to head to the beach before 10 a.m., if you need to fly out, if you need to return your rental car Saturday morning, you need to plan accordingly. There are not any exceptions. The road is completely closed to traffic during this time.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 1,265 runners registered for 8 Tuff Miles.
For those of you, like me, who aren’t runners but want to get in on the action, you can head to Centerline Road and cheer on the runners. Bring a Bluetooth speaker and play some music for the runners along the route. Find one of the eight water stations along the way and help hand out water and Gatorade to the runners and walkers.
I have been in charge of the eighth water station for years, and I am excited to do so again this year. Once the runners and walkers get to me, there is only .3 miles of mostly downhill road before the end of the race. We actually hand out more shots than water at my water station, so be sure to stop by and say hello. It becomes a fun little party. 🙂 If you’d like to join my water station Saturday, please email me at jenn@explorestj.com for details.
Life seems normal again! Isn’t it great??!
Looking to take a St. John island tour?
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.
Follow Explore STJ on Social Media