The 26th running of a popular St. John road race is set to kick off Saturday morning in Cruz Bay. A representative for the organizer of the annual 8 Tuff Miles Race says 1,200 runners have signed up for the run-walk endurance course to Coral Bay.
Race runner-spokesperson Johnice Comer said a slew of volunteers who will operate water stations — some dressed up in costumes — are expected to join them. Among them will be volunteers from St. John Rescue, keeping an eye out for runners who might suffer mishaps along the way.
Joining them will be family and friends who traveled in from 45 different states and some foreign countries — including Japan — lining the route to cheer them on. Joining them will be Virgin Islanders expected to turn out to enjoy a live weekend sporting event.
“ … We typically have all probably 45 out of the 50 states represented. And a few countries I know. We have Japan coming this year. We have Singapore and possibly New Zealand,” Comer said. As a runner herself, Comer said she’s run the St. John race since 2013.
St. John businesses are also cheering their sports-tourism guests, as evidenced by the banner hanging outside of the Mongoose Junction Shopping Center. That includes transportation companies who are adding extra morning ferry trips to their Saturday schedule.
The 8 Tuff Mile race starts at 7:15 a.m.; runners, volunteers and spectators are encouraged to begin assembling around 6:30 a.m. Two additional ferries are scheduled to depart at
6 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. from Red Hook, St. Thomas, she said.
Over the years — including 2018, when an unofficial run replaced the official race — the spokeswoman said she enjoyed camaraderie among top athletes and tourists who love running. “They want to come because it’s, you know, a great race, and they get to be a part of the community. They love it. And so they’ll just go from place to place … You actually get to interact with the people that you’re visiting. I mean, you’re truly a guest; you’re truly a guest, and you become kind of a part of the community,” Comer said.
That includes the youth — local and visitors — who register, run and compete for scholarships.
“There are some very serious athletes, and we have the under the Top 100 Club, so if you finished in the top 100 runners last year, you’re automatically guaranteed a bib one- through-100 for the next year. And we have over 50 Top One Hundreds from last year returning this year,” Comer said.
“And the other part of that is we have scholarships for children that are going to college that win in their age group — you know, $800, $1,000 — it makes a really big difference when you’re going off to college,” she said. “So we have return, repeat, local and stateside athletes that are children that come in aspiration to win their age group so that they can acquire that scholarship.”
And adding a personal story, the spokeswoman said she also received a prize from 8 Tuff Miles — in her case, a marriage.
“I met my now husband at Dulles Airport in Washington or in Northern Virginia. And I had an 8 Tuff Mile sticker on my computer, and he comes up to me; he said, ‘Are you going down to run that race?”
I said, “Yes,” and I said, “How many times have you run that race?”
“And he had done it more than 10 times, and I had done it less than 10 times, so I was a little upset because I didn’t think I’d meet someone at Dulles Airport that had done the race more times than I had,” Comer said.
The apparent solution came from an adage: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
“And then today happens to be our sixth-year anniversary and our one-year marriage anniversary,” she said.
The couple’s celebration plans include sharing another 8 Tuff Mile dream and more love on the run.
