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Zube: the winner and still champion

Zube
Jeremy Zuber
of St. John won the 8 Tuff Miles race Saturday with a near-record time of 50 minutes and 15 seconds.  8tuffmiles_checkIt’s the fourth time in a row he’s won the 8.3 miles road race which began at the National Park Service building and ended at the Coral Bay ball field. 

All finishers received a medal on a ribbon. The first three finishers in dozens of categories received colorful glass awards during a ceremony at the Cruz Bay playground Saturday afternoon.

The results.

They’re OFF … 8 Tuff Miles

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The 11th annual 8 Tuff Miles road race from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay drew 705 registered competitors, more than the target of 700 set by race organizer Peter Alter.

(Click on the photo for a larger picture.) The guy in yellow and black, Jeremy Zuber of St. John, has won the race the last three years.

"How are you feeling," one runner said to another, near the starting line, behind the National Park Service visitor’s center. "Pumped up," was the reply.

The 8:15 a.m. start Saturday morning was an hour later than scheduled, due to the late arrival of a ferry from St. Thomas carrying dozens of runners, walkers, and joggers. 

The weather was a bit warm; 81 degrees under clear blue skies.  Hey, what do you expect? It’s St. John! 🙂

The race announcer said there were 300 St. Johnians in the event, 200 from St. Thomas, runners from 15 states and several other countries. In addition to the registered 8 Tuff Milers, there were dozens of children who planned to walk the course, too.

Watch video of the start!

Polli’s is closed

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The Mexican restaurant at the Lumberyard has closed.
Property managers at the complex have the "This Space for Rent" sign up where Polli’s Restaurant used to be. There’s a nail salon!!! in part of the space now.

The
2,325 square-foot air-conditioned space also has open porch
seating areas with a view over the old barge dock and on to St. Thomas. Last thing I heard the place was hosting weekly poker games.  Here’s an old review

Tough business.

If jalapeños are your thing, Margarita Phil’s does the Mexican thing along the waterfront, across from the old barge dock.

How to get a free show with dinner

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New this year is "Starvin Artists" open-mike night at the Sun Dog Cafe at Mongoose. 

It’s not really a cafe, or even a place – it’s a bunch of tables set on the patio and walkway of the shopping arcade.  There’s a cute little bar (‘manned’ by Stephanie last night) and about a dozen tables.  Starting at 7 p.m. Mark ("Don’t ask me to play Jimmy Buffett or Kenny Chesney songs AGAIN!) Wallace begins playing, and at about 8 p.m, he MC’s amateur hour.

Sure, a few guys thought that they sang better than they did (must have been the
Margaritas.)  But then our waitress did a couple of country songs, several of which she wrote, and sounded positively Crystal Sundogcafe_markGayle-country.  The daughter of the St. John Sun-Times publishers enthusiastically recited a poem while she swing her jump rope.  Then Stephanie picked up a guitar, and although sheSundogcafe_her_1 professed she doesn’t do this sort of thing often, she brought down the clear nighttime sky with some strong strumming and great lyrics.  To top it off, a guy gets up from a table and does a few harmonica licks between choruses.

Sun Dog’s mid-week business builder is a great idea, and a lot of fun.  (Sorry for the quality of the photos … they’re off the phone.)

8 Tuff Miles draws French entrants

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In the last few days before Saturday’s 8 Tuff Miles road race, event organizer Peter Alter said several competitors from France registered at mid-week.  "We have entrants coming from all over, with Ohio, New York, and Virginia the states with the most," he said in this week’s St. John Podcast.

This year’s event has two new angles.  First, in advance of the race Alter encouraged islanders to police Centerline Road, the race route.  "If you were having a party in your house, you’d clean up," Alter explained, "And we should do the same to show everybody how easy it is to make things look good.  We need to do more," he added, "and stop the littering in the first place."

Alter also said this year some of the event’s previous top runners will get a kind of head start. About a hundred people, who finished the race previously, will begin the 8.3 mile course to Coral Bay at the front of the pack. While walkers and joggers are welcome, the "seeding" will give runners the chance to get out ahead of some of the slower participants who might be obstacles to their trying to set a personal best.  Web site: http://www.8tuffmiles.com.

Listen to Peter Alter, founder of "8 Tuff Miles" talk about the race and the route. Click the play button below.

You can download or hear the file by clicking here.

You can also subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast by going to
the Apple iTunes Music Store and searching for "news of st. john," or you can copy
the words feeds.feedburner.com.stjohn and paste them into the subscribe field under
the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use that Feedburner link
to subscribe in other podcatching software.  If you’re having a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

Orleans concert a success

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As much as $8,000 was raised in a benefit concert for Nana Baby Children’s Home on St. Thomas by a soft rock concert co-promoted by St. John’s Steve Simon.  An estimated 700 people rocked and swayed during the Saturday night show by Orleans at the Sapphire Beach Resort, according to a report by the Virgin Islands Daily News. "I’d love to it again," said Jim Tunick, the event’s other organizer.  "The venue was absolutely perfect."  Tunick invited Orleans to play on St. Thomas after seeing them in concert in Vermont recently.  "I have a personal history with the band," he told the newspaper.

8 Tuff Miles mania

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Order a couple sandwiches at Baked in the Sun at the Marketplace and you’ll see two large signs, looking like checks, made out to Men’s Winner and Women’s Winner of Saturday’s 11th annual 8 Tuff Miles Road Race

Or walk around Cruz Bay and you’re likely to find race organizer Peter Alter taking registrations (limit 700) at Connections or on the first floor of the Marketplace.  While on Centerline Road, the route is being prepared. Big yellow numbers have been painted on the road, counting the miles from downtown Cruz Bay, 1-2-3-4 on the road to the finish line at Coral Bay.  Banner signs announcing the race seem to be on every corner.

As of this week,about 500 people have registered for the 8.3 mile event which you can run, jog, walk, or any combination.  Funds raised by the race go to several scholarship funds, Save the Children, the Love City Pan Dragons and St. John Rescue.

Chesney tells “60 Minutes” he sells fun

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During the past week, there have been Kenny Chesney sightings on island at Woody’s and Rhumb Lines.  Although he was here during Valentine’s Day, there were no reports he was accompanied by a girlfriend.  On Sunday night, the country megastar was also seen across the nation on CBS.

A report by Anderson Cooper for "60 Minutes" had been in production at least four months.  A section of the 9-minute piece showed Chesney at one of his homes on St. John where he explained he’s most comfortable in local restaurants and bars.

"Back here with propane tanks, ice makers, brooms," he said. "For some reason or another, I feel so relaxed back here, and I know. It’s odd. And I love it, man. I mean it’s almost like, it’s therapy for me to come back here and just sit."

Here’s a link to the "60 Minutes" video.

Real estate update 2/18/07

Neither Grande Bay nor Sirenusa is done but lots of the condominium projects’ units are
available, and some for the second time..  A February real estate listing issued by John
McCann & Assoc.
offers seven at Grande Bay and eight at Sirenusa.

The Grande Bay units begin at $629,000 for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath and go
up to $1.025 million for 2-bedrooms/2-baths.  Sirenusa’s least
expensive incomplete condo, 2-bedrooms/2.5 baths, is priced at $1.395
million.  At the upper end is a 4-bedroom/4.5 bath unit for $2.55
million.

Beach Bar race a quiet affair

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Blame it on the beautiful weather, 85 and sunny.  Or on Saturday being a "turnover day" when people are coming and going and so many Beach Bar-regulars are working to welcome incoming visitors.  Either way, the 6th Annual Minimal Boat Regatta drew minimal participation.

The rules limited race participants to boats build using only one sheet of plywood, two two-by-fours, and 60" of duct tape.  The result … lots of people showed up to watch, but only one team showed up at the 1 p.m. start time to show off their ingenuity and craftsman ship.  Victory was quickly declared, and Regatta T-shirt-clad bartenders went back to serving "Greenies" for $2 each, all day.  The Inquiring Iguana was not shy about taking advantage of the deal, and BB was a great place to wile away the PM.