Race Roster Messages 2026
IMPORTANT NOTIFICATIONS
January 12, 2026
Picking up your bib number
Hello and Happy New Year. Today, we are pointing everyone who has registered for 8 Tuff Miles 2026 in the direction of where and when you may pick up your bib number. There is a detailed list of places, times, and dates where you can pick up your bib number at www.8tuffmiles.com. This detailed list is on the Home Page, so you won’t need to go far to find it. If you do not see a place or a time or a date listed, it is because it does not exist. Please do not contact us asking if there are other locations or times. Please trust the race organizers; everyone will have an opportunity to pick up their bib number. For those of you already here on St. John, please pick up your bib number as soon as possible. St. Thomas friends, plan on spending an evening on St. John. Come over and visit. We would love to see you. By now, everyone should know that you need to be on time for the start & cross the finish line to receive your FINISHER tee shirt and medal. Prior to the race, you get a bib number and a challenge. All the best for 2026.
January 26, 2026
Helpful information regarding 8 Tuff Miles 2026
Greetings from St. John and 8 Tuff Miles 2026. Now that you have registered for this event, you will now need to know where you can pick up your bib number, and that list of locations, dates, & times can be found on the Home Page at www.8tuffmiles.com. Next on the list is getting to the start line area, which is Cruz Bay. For those spending Friday evening on St. Thomas, there will be three ferry boats leaving from Red Hook and docking in Cruz Bay. The first ferry will depart Red Hook at 6:00 AM, the next at 6:15 AM, and the third at 6:30 AM. There will be a SAG wagon in Cruz Bay that will transport a small backpack to Coral Bay for you. You must be wearing your bib number when you check in your small backpack. This race has a good history of starting on time, which is 7:15 AM, rain or shine.
I’m going to keep this message brief today, but I will be emailing you all again next week with more helpful information. Please pick up your bib numbers as soon as you possibly can. Thank you for that. Have a good day.
February 2, 2026
Useful information for all 8 Tuff Milers
This is the third email campaign message for 2026. The first two can be found at www.8tuffmiles.com and should be reviewed by everyone. The organizers of 8TM need you to pick up your bib numbers, if at all possible, before race day. The complete list can also be found at www.8tuffmiles.com.
For anyone in need of information regarding where to park in Cruz Bay or Coral Bay where’s what we can tell you. There’s the Gravel Lot, and there’s the LumberYard Complex in Cruz Bay. If you can convince a friend to drop you off, that’s the best. It’s also a good idea to talk to the parking lot attendants a day or two before Saturday and have a plan B ready. Coral Bay parking: DO NOT PARK YOUR VEHICLE ON THE BALLFIELD. IT WILL BE TOWED AWAY AT YOUR EXPENSE. Everyone is responsible for getting themselves to the start line in time for the 7:15 AM start. Simply do some planning and have a backup plan, too. It’s not that complicated, just do some planning well before Saturday morning, so we can all start this race on time, 7:15 AM.
We will have a SAG Wagon to move your small backpack to Coral Bay. You will collect your small checked bag in Coral Bay. You must be wearing your bib number on the front of your body to check in a bag with the SAG Wagon.
We will do whatever we can to answer your questions before Race Day, so please ask now while there is time for us to reply with an answer.
February 9, 2026
After the race, exiting Coral Bay
Greetings from St. John, in the US Virgin Islands. We are now only days away from the 27th Annual 8 Tuff Miles Road Race. Many of you who will soon be coming to St. John have endured a frigid winter so far. The good news is that St. John is ready to warm you up. The seawater is even warm.
Many of you have emailed me recently asking, “How do we get back to the start line area after the race?” This event does not include your exit plan from Coral Bay. ( keep reading) The taxi drivers who operate on St. John are very much aware that 8 Tuff Miles is happening that day and that the road out of Coral Bay is closed by the VIPD until 10:15 AM. Taxi drivers with their safari-style trucks are usually standing by, ready, willing, and able to transport you to any part of St. John, and what I mean by this is, Cruz Bay or the North Shore Beaches. If you need special transportation, you will need to speak with one of the drivers a day or two before. This cost is 100% on you. I have no control over the taxi drivers.
If you decide you want to park your personal vehicle in Coral Bay early Saturday morning and work your way toward the Cruz Bay start line, do not park your vehicle on the Ball Field. It will not be there when you return. It will be towed away.
There are now well over one thousand of you registered for this race. The more of you that pick up your bib number before Race Day, the better. Please visit www.8tuffmiles.com and find the bib number pick up schedule on the Home Page. If I had the time, I would etch that schedule into a piece of granite, but I do not have the time to do that, so just use the schedule at the website. Smiley face, wink-wink.
That’s enough for now. If you have recently registered for this race, and you would like to get caught up on the older messages that were emailed last month containing lots of good info, you can find that link at the top of the Home Page of www.8tuffmiles.com.
Have a good day, and try to get a few miles in this week. Next week, (probably Monday), I’ll have more information regarding 8 Tuff Miles and what will make your race day more enjoyable.
February 16, 2026
Race Day Information
Greetings from 8 Tuff Miles Central. With less than two (2) weeks before Race Day it is important that everyone participating has a plan for that morning. Such things as, how will you be arriving at the start line area with time to spare? The race starts at 7:15 AM, and it is your responsibility to be on time. We have a SAG Wagon for every person wearing a bib number pinned to the front of their body. This SAG Wagon will transport your small backpack with your personal items to the finish line, where you will collect it. This SAG Wagon is for your convenience and will make your day more enjoyable.
During the race, stay hydrated. There is plenty of water along the way, and it is your responsibility to keep yourself hydrated by utilizing each one of the 8 Tuff Miles water stations. Drinking anything other than water and Gatorade is not recommended.
If you have recently registered for this race and you would like to get caught up on the earlier email messages that were sent out during January and early February, please go to www.8tuffmiles.com, and on the Home Page, please click RaceRoster Messages 2026.
This week, we will be at the Tap Room located at Mongoose Jct. on Tuesday and Wednesday from 4 to 8 PM only, distributing the pre-registered bib numbers. To view the entire bib number pick-up schedule, go to www.8tuffmiles.com. You will find this schedule on the Home Page.
This year’s 9th Mile Award Ceremony is in the parking lot of Mongoose Jct. and it will begin at 4:00 PM.
Have a good day and a great week, see you all very soon.
February 19, 2026
A couple of minutes of your time
Greetings from 8 Tuff Miles 2026. We want every one of you to have the best 8 Tuff Miles experience possible. If this is your first or twenty-first time getting out there and giving it all you’ve got, we want it to be positive. Be wise about what activities you decide to participate in the days before this race. Be ready to get going early on Saturday. Know how you’re getting from one place to the other, including the start line, and have a plan B. Hydrate with plenty of water the day before, during the race, and afterwards.
This year, we are introducing a new start to 8 Tuff Miles. The entries that finished in the Top 100 class during the 2025 race will start fifteen (15) seconds before everyone. This race is a chip time race, so relax. Your time begins when you cross over the Blue and Orange Gator mats at the start line. Only those wearing bib numbers 1 through 100 will go first. Anyone not wearing a bib number 100 and lower who jumps the gun and goes early with the Top 100 group will receive an automatic DNF. For those who do not know what DNF stands for, it means ” Did Not Finish”. It’s like you were never there. The Top 100 entries from the 2025 race have earned this elite status, and I’m sure all of you will agree and give them the respect they fully deserve.
Bib number pick up. Go to www.8tuffmiles.com and find the schedule for the week of February 22nd. It’s on the Home Page. Picking up your bib number before Race Day guarantees you a better chance of starting with everyone else and on time. Do whatever you can to follow the bib number pick-up schedule so we can all start on time. Don’t ask for any special favors regarding bib number pick-up. We’re not going to budge on this.
Today is 02/19/26. There are 1,369 registered entries (so far) for this 2026 race, which was first run in 1997 with twenty-one (21) entries. Today, we are the largest attended footrace in all of the Virgin Islands.
Have a good day, and we’ll see you all very soon.
February 23, 2026
Thank you
Greetings once again from 8 Tuff Miles & thank you for being a part of this year’s event. We are hopeful it will be another good day with plenty of St. John memories for you and your families. Thank you to all of the volunteers who start their day equally as early as the entries this Saturday morning so they can support us as we make our trek across the island. Thank you.
I do realize there is a blizzard making its way through New England and neighboring areas, and there will be some delays with flights this week. Do whatever is in your power to be here before Saturday, and please travel safely.
The information regarding bib number pickup this week is at www.8tuffmiles.com on the Home Page, plus a page of messages from earlier this month with important information about this race. We want everyone to have the best time possible while participating in 8 Tuff Miles, so please read up on those short messages and be properly prepared for Saturday morning.
This is most likely the last message from us this year as we begin our final preparation for Saturday morning’s race. All the best with your travels. When you see an 8 Tuff Miles volunteer, please thank them and always stay properly hydrated while in the Caribbean. Thank you, folks.