This past Saturday morning I ran in the 8 Tuff Miles race up and over the island of St. John – starting in Cruz Bay and ending on our side of the island in Coral Bay. It was an incredible experience.
We first heard about the run back in October when we were researching heading to St. John for the winter – it was one of the major local events listed on every St. John website and calendar we found. With 1000 runners from around the country and the world converging to compete, it is one of the biggest events on the island.
The thought of competing in such a demanding and organized race excited me, and also thoroughly intimidated me. Less than a year ago I never would have considered myself a “runner” of any sort. But the prospect of building up to this race while living here this winter seemed like a worthy challenge.
Learning that it was officially a “Run / Walk / Jog” race took the pressure off, and Cherie and I signed up together in December. Running the “Turkey Day 5K” together and completing a few major hill-climbing hikes around the island convinced us that at the very least we should be able to finish the course in the allotted 3.5 hour maximum time.
I have no doubt that Cherie would have been up for it too – but a month or so ago she playfully responded to a Facebook update from our friend Wayne in Arizona saying that he had just had a great 8 mile run. Cherie asked if he was training for “8 Tuff Miles”, and within the course of a few back-and-forth comments Wayne’s wife was offering to buy him a ticket to visit us for an adventure, Cherie was offering Wayne her coveted (sold out!) place in the race, and I was offering to buy the beer. Serendipity for the win!
And then another serendipitous encounter with the organizer / founder of the race a week ago wound up with Cherie being invited to be part of the official volunteer crew. Serendipity score x2.
Course Description:
“This course begins and ends at sea level. Along the way you will reach an elevation of 999 ft. There is approximately 1400 ft. of elevation gain in the first 5 1/2 miles and then it’s back to sea level. The course actually measures 8 3/8 miles.”
My Race Experience…
Being a part of such a big mob of runners was an amazing experience, and the energy of the crowd even made power-walking the grueling uphills fun. The steep downhills were a blast too, and I got to try out my skipping / galloping technique which worked as if I were hitting afterburners – shooting past people like a galloping rocket. It was exhausting, and exhilarating. And apparently very amusing for some of the other runners too – a woman at the awards ceremony later in the day said of seeing me – “We needed that!”
As I ran around the final bend and into the chute towards the finishing line, I saw by the giant clock that I just needed to push a little harder and I would be able to finish under my goal time of 1hr 45min. And I did – finishing with an official time of 1:44:40!!
Cherie had been using the awesome iPhone app Glympse to GPS track my progress live, so she knew exactly when I would be finishing and was able to sneak away from volunteering at her station to cheer me on. It was a thrill to see her, and to have her hugging me at the finish line.
Once I had caught my breath and had the sweat out of my eyes, I met up with Wayne. He had totally rocked it – finishing in 1:12:25, just missing winning 3rd in his division by a minute! Our friend Trevor from St. Thomas also had a great time, 1:28:03.
FYI: For a more detailed hill-by-hill account of my experience in the race (including the playlist that I listened to that powered me through), you can check out the version of this article posted on my LiveJournal.
A few other thoughts on the race…
The elite runners though were really amazing. Seventeen men and one woman finished the course in under an hour, and the first place finisher set a new course record by finishing in just 46 minutes! That would be an amazing time even on flat terrain!!
I loved how well supported the race was, with 11 official water stations, some with orange slices (heaven!). There was even an unofficial “Beer Bong Challenge” hydration station, which I wisely skipped. The entire island of St. John really did a great job in hosting the event, even allowing the main road across the island to be (mostly) closed for three hours. I also loved all the cheering crowds and musicians playing along the course.
I also have to say that I was VERY impressed with my Vibram Five Finger KSO Trek shoes. They were fabulous to run in, though I did wish a bit for more padding on the final downhill once my feet were reaching a point of serious tenderness. They were also a great conversation starter – I must have had a dozen people ask me about them while on the course and after.
Afterwards…
Once the finishing inflow had slowed to a trickle, the rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach – and we did enough long-distance swimming to almost turn the day into a biathlon.
I am thrilled with myself for accomplishing this, and I am thrilled to have a supportive partner in Cherie who did such an amazing job making it all happen. (I wouldn’t even have taken up running if it wasn’t for her getting into it first last year!)
What a day!!!
Hey Guys, reading your bio and surprised how we have so much in common, including St. John, Old RV’s and the full time thing. I spent 4 years or so on a Sailboat also, and lived a number in St. Pete. Right now we are near Palm Springs and wofuld like to join you for a few hours while your out this way, if possible.
Good to see you made it out of St. Louie with your skin in tact, but that might have been the plan. “You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin him once!” Leo
Looking at doing the race this coming year. I don’t want to spend a ton on accommodations. I’m not adverse to roughing it. Any ideas of places to stay that are cheap?
There are some primitive tent campgrounds in the East End that might work. But it’s been over 2 years since we were on St. John, so we’re really not up on the options on island anymore. Maybe try Couchsurfing.org?
Also – look into couch surfing. We hosted while we are on St. John, and it could be a great way to make new friends when you come down for the race!
Thank you.I’ll check it out.
I know this is a little late, but I was just researching the 8 Tuff Miles for next February and (dumb question) but how do you get back from Coral Bay to Cruz Bay after the race. Just trying to figure out if it was better to stay in Coral Bay (and get driving to the start) or Cruz Bay (be at the start) but how to get back….???
Hi Maureen –
Hitchhiking is a way of life on the island.. and especially on race day, there are hundreds in your positions, and hundreds of folks more than happy to give runners a ride back to Cruz Bay. I think there were also shuttles running too.
Best wishes.. it’s an awesome event!
Congrats team!
Great accomplishment!!!
*high fives*
Wow, this is really cool (and inspirational)!
I’ve never been a runner, but lately I’ve been thinking about giving it a try. There’s an app I’ve seen mentioned in a few places – Couch to 5K – that seems like an interesting way to transform from non-runner to Prefontaine. 😛 I still haven’t taken that plunge, yet… maybe finding a short marathon to run/jog would provide a good incentive to actually get started and train.
We highly recommend Couch 2 5k.. we both started that about a year ago, and it’s what propelled us from RVing laptop potatoes to taking on challenges like 8 Tuff Miles 🙂 It’s an incredible program that breaks it down into really obtainable goals. (Pssst.. Austin in March is an awesome place to start a running programming.. it’s kinda mecca for it, and you’ll have direct access to the Town Lake running trail where you’re staying.)