Feb. 28, 2009 — Sprawled on the ground at the finish line, just short of heat stroke and 46 seconds short of winning Saturday's 8 Tuff Miles race, Cort Lilly had just one thing to say.
"Zuber!" Lilly panted. "Damn, man — you're an animal."
For the sixth year in a row, St. John's Jeremy Zuber, 28, owned the eight tough up-and-down miles from Cruz Bay to the Coral Bay ballfield. But he insisted it was no picnic.
"I was hurting so bad," he said just after passing the finish line, one of 838 people who signed up to run the course.
He hoped to beat his best time of 49 minutes and 20 seconds, but instead did the 8.375 miles from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay in 49 minutes and 35 seconds after battling a cold all week.
Lilly, from Cincinnati, Ohio, finished with a time of 50 minutes and 20 seconds, the third year in a row he had to settle for second. St. John Rescue members soaked him down and helped him exit the finish line gate to keep him from succumbing to heat stroke on a race day some said was hotter than last year.
"If they come in dry, we bring them over here and ice them down," St. John Rescue member George Cline said before the runners started hitting the finish line.
St. John Rescue's 22 people were posted along the course and kept busy. One woman collapsed just yards from the finish.
Race Committee member Jeff Miller said that participants came from seven countries — as far away as the Slovakian capital, Bratislava — 40 states and across the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
Ann McCrave of St. John Rescue said that unlike Zuber, who trains on St. John's hills, most people from the States are not used to running up and down hills.
Andy Cherry was, though. The 43-year-old Philadelphian was in good shape when he passed the finish line in third place.
"I formulated a series of hill workouts," Cherry said — and he works out a lot.
The top female finisher also trained on up and down terrain. It was the first time Heather Gracie, 46, had taken on the 8 Tuff Miles.
"It was an amazing race," she said. "I'm used to the hills" of north central New Jersey, where she lives in the little town of Peapack.
Former St. John resident Emily Egelhoff-Whalen, who now lives in North Carolina, was second for the women. The 17-year-old high school student said her legs burned on the uphill.
"And it killed my feet on the downhill," she said.
C.J. Kim, 40, came in third for the second year in a row. "It was hotter this year," she said.
The Fort Thomas, Kentucky resident said she met one of her two goals. She finished in the top five, but didn't beat her last year's time.
The event brought out people from all walks of life, including V.I. Sen. Louis Patrick Hill, 48.
"Not good. I didn't have the energy," he said, when asked how he did.
Hill said he stays in shape by exercising regularly. And he was happy to be on St. John.
Another St. Thomas resident, Noah Stolz, 11 and a student at Montessori School, said he found the race tiring.
"It was really long. It kept going up and down, but I did it because all my friends were doing it," he said.
Former St. John resident Regina Loiacano, 35, was back on St. John from her home in Gloucester, Mass., to participate. She has won the event several times, but placed fifth this year. She offered an excellent excuse, though.
Loiacano just had a baby and had just three weeks to train.
"It felt good to be back here," she said.
Cancer survivor Cathy Thorn, 69, of Westchester, Penn., was just a few weeks out of chemotherapy and radiation, but she was determined to walk the course.
"All I wanted to do was finish," she said.
The race brought out hundreds of people to support their favorites. John Staedler of St. John was at the finish with three others to support their friend, Brenda Jones.
"And to ply her with a cold beer," he said.
The event wouldn't happen without community support, including that of the many organizations that set up water stations along the route.
"Oh my God, this is so much fun," said Nancy Lewis of the Animal Care Center of St. John as she handed out cups of Gatorade at the Ajax Peak water station.
For complete results, visit the race website.
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