A PERSONAL CHALLENGE THAT INSPIRED THOUSANDS

FAQ

Common Questions

Where does the race start?

National Park Visitor Center (NPS) Cruz Bay St. John

How do I sign up?

Start at the Homepage of www.8tuffmiles.com & click – Register for the 2024 8TM

Who can participate?

Everyone from anywhere can participate as long as you have registered for the event before February 21st, 2024

Do I need to carry my own water?

Nope! 10 different water stations will be armed with volunteers handing you water and giving good cheer!

When can I register?

Registration for the 2024 race starts July 1st at 12:01am!

How many participants will there be?

We are registering 1,500 entries for the 2024 event.

Who gets a medal?

Every (registered) participant who starts and finishes the race will recieve a finisher medal, T-shirt & goodie bag!

Can I win a scholarship?

Yes! If you are the first place boy or girl in the three youngest age groups!

The three youngest age groups are as follows:

12 and under, 13 to 16, and 17 to 19.

A total of 6 prizes are awarded each year.

The first place boy and the first place girl in the 12 and under age group each receive a college scholarship in the amount of $500.00.

The first place boy and the first place girl in the 13 to 16 age group each receive a college scholarship in the amount of $800.00.

The first place boy and the first place girl in the 17 to 19 age group each receive a college scholarship in the amount of $1000.00.

Please see the Resource page for more information.

The Course

The Trek from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay

The race begins on the west end of the island of St. John, Virgin Islands and travels in an east direction. This map shows each mile of the course and the elevation at each mile. Note that the course measures 8.38 miles.

The starting line is located at the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay at an elevation of about 5 feet. As you can see here in this description the highest point on the course is 999 feet and the finish line is back to near sea level in Coral Bay.

Over the years many stateside residents have programmed their treadmills and turned up the heat in their home gyms to mimic the course for their personal training proposes.

The race course is Route 10 AKA Centerline Road from the west side of the island in Cruz Bay eastward to the finish line in Coral Bay.

Climbing to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building (using the stairs) and reaching the highest point of the 8 Tuff Miles course you are close in elevation. There is about 51 feet difference between the two but I would like to know,

“… Who do you think has the better view?

All Finishing participants receive a finisher medal & T-shirt!

Over 102 Awards will be given out this year!

17 Age Groups – Both Male & Female- 3 deep in each age group.

Plus Overall Male, Overall Female, Youngest Male & Youngest Female.

Which age group do you fall into?

12 & Under, 13-16, 17-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85 Plus

The Overall Male wins $300.00 St. John Brewers Beer Dollars

The Overall Female wins $300.00 CASH.

6 kids under the age of 19 Can win $500-1,000 in college scholarship money!
click here to learn more

A BIT OF HISTORY

"[MANY] THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY TO SUGGEST THE IDEA..."

“Upon returning to St. John in September 1996 I was trying to quit smoking and decided to punish myself by running and hopefully then realize that my body and lungs were beat up because of all the chemicals in the cigarettes. On a December Sunday morning close to the end of the year I woke up, put on my running shoes and started running towards Coral Bay from the downtown Cruz Bay area. Carrying a single bottle of water and not at all sure how much time this would take, I now knew I’d be quitting smoking in the very near future. I reached the corner in Coral Bay known as the T intersection in about 1:20:00 and was both surprised and pleased.

Soon after that I attended a meeting of the St. John Action Committee. They were looking for ways to entice St. Thomas folks to come over and spend the day on St. John on the last Saturday of each month with fairs and music and other ideas. My suggestion was to have a footrace and the course would be from one end of the island to the other. Most of the people at the meeting seriously thought I was crazy to suggest the idea but there were people there that saw the idea had potential. With a handful of new friends the date for the first race would be the last Saturday of February. The last Saturday of January was coming up to quickly and that is why we waited, planned accordingly and had the first race on the last Saturday of February, “February, 22 1997.”

The Future Business Leaders of America from Sprauve School volunteered to staff the 12 water stations along the way. Timing would be done by a couple of friends who were on island that winter. We had 25 Tee shirts printed and 21 entries signed up that morning. Quite a few from St. Thomas I might add. The plan was working! There was a Virgin Islands Policemen on a motorcycle leading the first place runner. Most of the entries ran and there were some walkers. First place was 1:01:10. It was Charles Morton from St. Thomas and now the chase was on for future races!”

– Peter Alter

All time
Course Records

Male: David Riddle Cincinnati, OH – 45:46 – Feb 23, 2013

Female: Jessica Rice, from Needham, MA – 56:03 – Feb 22, 2014

Timeline

1997
21 finishers
1998
121 finishers
1999
143 finishers
2000
187 finishers
2001
239 finishers
2002
356 finishers
2003
403 finishers
2004
515 finishers
2005
589 finishers
2006
627 finishers
2007
640 finishers
2008
726 finishers
2009
780 finishers
2010
899 finishers
2011
881 finishers
2012
984 finishers
2013
1207 finishers
(officially the largest participated food race in all of the Virgin Islands!)
2014
1106 finishers
2015
1045 finishers
2016
1155 finishers
2017
1063 finishers
2018
If you were there, you were one of the winners! (Hurricanes Irma & Maria decimated the islands).
2019
2019 - 941 finishers - 18 months after two major hurricanes.
2020
1085 finishers