Performance Jetty-2-Jetty Ultramarathon & Team Relay Results

For the first time since we have included a Bike Division, it was won by a female cyclist, TRISHA BAILEY, who raced fast and smooth throughout the entire distance. Her time of 3:38:21, sets a new Bike Division record, better than any previous year -- take note, guys...

March 19th dawned with near-perfect weather for a beach race -- clear skies, temperature about 55-60 degrees, with a prediction for light winds from the northwest, going to northeast. The beach conditions at the start were looking better than some previous years, though the race began just after high tide, so that the racers would have the best beach conditions late in the race. The J2J race started about 8:40am, going north for about 2.5 miles before turning south for the final 32.5 miles to the St. Augustine Inlet. As is normal, the surface was a challenge from the beginning. While beach surface conditions were improving during the day, the beach, as always, provides its own challenges throughout the race. Winter storms had changed portions of the beach, leaving some flatter than usual and some with more slant and cocina shells.

Jetty-2-Jetty Ultra & Relay -- 1/16/2010

After a couple weeks of uncharacteristic freezing weather, the weather on race day was raining and cool, and when the rains stopped, it remained overcast, with a slight wind that came from the south by the end of the race. The conditions at the start were near high tide so that the racers would have the best beach conditions late in the race. The J2J race started about 8:30am, and the surface was a challenge from the beginning. While beach surface conditions were improving during the day, the beach, as always, provided varying challenges throughout the race. As is normal, winter storms had changed portions of the beach, leaving some flatter than usual and some with more cocina shells. Runners reported seeing many starfish, conch shells, sand dollars, and other unusual sea creatures all along the course. 

Running steadily from start to finish, Daniel Mabie was the first solo runner to finish, in a time of 6:04 -- a finish very close to his 2nd place time last year and the year before. This was his year to take the win! Coming in Second in the solo men's division was Michael Cowart in 6:17. Using this a a training run for Marathon Des Sables, Jennifer Vogel was the first solo woman runner to finish, and was also second solo overall in a time of 6:05, followed by Katie Bombly in 6:25 in her first J2J Ultra.

In this fifth year that included relay teams, runners on teams dominated and took  the first nine finishing positions, showing the strength of teamwork in this long distance race. Times for some teams and individual runners showed faster times in past years, in spite of the slight headwind. Team Tenacious Turtles improved their own finish time by another seven minutes and they seem to have solidified a tradition of holding onto Second Place Overall!  After leading for much of the first half of the race, Team Tenacious Turtles was passed by Team Brew Crew, who headed to a first place finish in 3 hours 59 minutes, an improvement of about 17 minutes over their first place finish last year.  

CONGRATULATIONS to all of those who came out to compete and test yourselves against the elements and the beach. THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEER RACE OFFICIALS (Tracy, Pat, John, Mark, Chris, Lynne, Valerie, Ken, Jason), without whom we would not have a race like the Performance Jetty-2-Jetty Ultra and Relay. We are already looking at the tides for 2011, and will be starting a bit later in relation to the point of high tide. We look forward to seeing you again in 2011.

Performance Jetty-2-Jetty Ultramarathon & Team Relay - Saturday, 2/28/09

The World's Longest Beach Run - 35 Miles on the Beach from Atlantic Beach to the Jetty at the St Augustine Inlet.

Weather was sunny and partly cloudy, with a wind that came from the south early in the race. The conditions on the beach were good at the start in Atlantic Beach; the race began near high tide so that participants would be able to enjoy lower tide conditions toward the final hours of the race. The J2J race started at 9:07am, with a beach surface was relatively flat even from the beginning. While beach surface conditions were improving during the day, the beach, as always, provided varying challenges throughout the race. As is normal, winter storms had changed portions of the beach, leaving some areas flatter than usual and some with more cocina shells.  

In this fourth year that included relay teams, runners on teams won the first two finishing positions, showing the strength of teamwork in this long distance race. Times for some teams and individual runners showed faster times this year, in spite of the headwind. Team Brew Crew improved over last year's time by almost five minutes! After trading the lead during parts of the first half of the race, Team Brew Crew headed to a first place finish in 4:16:00. Running steadily from start to finish, Andy Nicol came from Vancouver, BC, Canada to be the first solo runner to finish, in a time of 4:53:05 -- once again, a finish about 38 minutes faster than last year's solo first place. Loretta Haycook and Lesley Seaton ran together all the way to tie for the first solo woman runner to finish, in a time of 6:39:25, followed by Maureen O'Sullivan in 7:03:11.

For the second time, a BIKE Division was included in  J2J, with six cyclists at the starting line. This year, the 35 miles of beach was so challenging on a bike that two of the female cyclists decided to drop out at about the halfway point at Mickler's Landing. Even by the first checkpoint, some of the Teams were ahead of some of the bikes in the cyclo-cross type conditions, in which the riders spent some of their time pushing their bikes when they encountered soft sections on the beach. At other times, they were rolling well, especially as the tide was getting lower throughout the day. After a challenging day in and out of the saddle, the Bike Division was won by Steve Szilagyi in 4:45:48, just ahead of Andy Stenson.  The first female bike finisher (ever) was Marykay Hall, who had actually led all the men at times.

Congratulations to all of the participants in our Performance Jetty-2-Jetty Ultra in 2009.

Performance

Jetty-2-Jetty Ultra & Relay

Performance Jetty-2-Jetty Ultramarathon & Team Relay - Saturday, 3/22/08

The World's Longest Beach Run - 35 Miles on the Beach from Atlantic Beach south to the Jetty at the St Augustine Inlet. Weather was cool and overcast, with a slight wind that came from the south by the end of the race. The conditions at the start were better than usual, though the race began near high tide. The J2J race started at 9:00am, close to high tide, yet the surface was relatively flat even from the beginning. While beach surface conditions were improving during the day, the beach, as always, provided varying challenges throughout the race. As is normal, winter storms had changed portions of the beach, leaving some flatter than usual and some with more cocina shells. Runners reported seeing many starfish, conch shells, sand dollars, and other unusual sea creatures all along the course. In some areas, erosion had eaten away at the dunes near some homes, leaving small "cliffs" from the water to the houses above. 

In this third year that included relay teams, runners on teams won the first five finishing positions, showing the strength of teamwork in this long distance race. Times for many teams and individual runners showed faster times in 2008, in spite of the slight headwind. Team Tenacious Turtles improved their own finish time by a whopping 12 minutes!  After leading for much of the first half of the race, Team Tenacious Turtles was passed by Team Brew Crew, who headed to a first place finish in 4:20:25, an improvement of about 10 minutes over last year's first finishers. Running steadily from start to finish, Chris Maples was the first solo runner to finish, in a time of 5:31:37 -- once again, a finish almost 10 minutes faster than last year's 5:40:10 solo first place. Lorna Brown was the first solo woman runner to finish, and was also third solo overall in a time of 6:11:10, followed by Loretta Haycook in 6:21:20, which is almost 10 minutes better than her fastest previous J2J.

For the first time, a BIKE Division was added to J2J, with three cyclists at the starting line. This year, the 35 miles of beach was so challenging on a bike that one of the cyclists decided to drop out at about the halfway point at Mickler's Landing. Even by the first checkpoint, some of the Teams were ahead of some of the bikes in the cyclo-cross type conditions, in which the riders spent some of their time pushing their bikes when they encountered soft sections on the beach. At other times, they were rolling well, especially as the tide was getting lower throughout the day. After a challenging day in and out of the saddle, the Bike Division was won by Andy Stenson, by about 20 minutes over his teammate, Clark Schaffer, who announced that he was already planning to return to take on the Jetty-2-Jetty Ultra in 2009.