The Animal Camp 100 Mile Endurance Run (TAC100)

The 2011 Animal Camp 100 Mile Endurance Run (TAC100)

UPDATE- 2011 Finisher Results and see below for 2012!

Animal Camp and NJShore UltraRunner guests-

Introducing The Animal Camp Cape to Gate 100M (TAC100) Endurance Run. The Animal Camp is putting together a fat-ass 100 mile endurance run at the Jersey Shore to be a companion event to the Cape to Gate Relay (C2G). The Cape to Gate is currently a relay event which follows the 46 mile Ocean Drive route at the Jersey Shore from Cape May to Margate. You run across every OD bridge and all the Jersey Shore boardwalks along the way. For the ultra event, we'll run 50 miles from the C2G race finish at Robert's Place Bar in Margate in the mid-morning of Friday, 2/25/11, to Sunset Beach in Cape May. We'll then run the course back the same route (the C2G Relay route), but instead of a relay, we will run it solo. The Cape to Gate participants will be starting well behind us, but we'll probably start seeing them about half way on our return trip. We finish at Robert's Place Bar in Margate after a swim in the ocean for a gathering with the other C2G participants for drinks and food! There will be a spread of food for us at Robert's Place upon our finish- Thanks Josh for setting that up. Here is the proposed route:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/us/north-cape-may-nj/the-animal-camp-cape-to-gate-100-miler-t-route-25307390

I want to stress that this is NOT a race, nor an officially timed and certified event. It is for Animal Camp Members and invited friends (sign up will be by invite or through an Animal Camp sponsor). I'm not looking for a 50 person field of unknown folks I that I don't know whether they can complete a 100 mile, self-supported event in the middle of Winter. The event will be fat-ass format: No support, no aid, no certified course, no shirts, no medals, no complaints (What's a fat-ass event?). You'll likely have to carry much of your supplies, as not much will be open in February in the quiet shore towns in the middle of the night. It will be cold and windy in February (The OD curse), and a possibility of snow on the ground. We'll run together as a team in two groups, a faster and a slow pace group. That way we won't leave anyone for dead on the Ocean Drive. I, "NJShore Steve" will lead the slower group, and AJ "AJinator" Johnson will lead the faster group. We both have already run the 50 mile course on 1/15/11, grew up in this area, and have run these roads many, many times which give us both good acquaintance of the route. The slow group will likely start ahead of the faster team to try to finish at the same time. Tentative departure times on Fri, 2/25/11: Slow group- 9AM, Faster group- 12PM. The unofficial aid station of the TAC 100M will be Wawa- there should be at least one open in every town along the way. I have also compiled a list of every other store or open restaurant along the route or nearby, with phone numbers. Hopefully, we can also round up some volunteers into driving a couple of support vehicles.

The Animal Camp Cape to Gate 100M (TAC100) could also include a single day 46-50M as an additional event. To get the full 50 miles, we will have to run from Sunset Beach, then to the relay race start at the end of the Cape May Promenade.

The TAC100 route-

http://www.mapmyrun.com/us/north-cape-may-nj/the-animal-camp-cape-to-gate-100-miler-t-route-25307390

Run start location:

Robert's Place

7807 Atlantic Avenue

Margate City, NJ 08402

I put on the route every OD bridge, OC Boardwalk, Sea Isle Promenade, Avalon Boardwalk, Wildwood Boardwalk, Cape May Promenade, Hereford Lighthouse, Lucy the Elephant, Cape May Lighthouse, Sunset Beach and just for good measure, a section of Avalon beach! 50.15 one way, however many Wawa / 7-11 / McD deviations easily will make this a bit longer than the advertised 100 miles. The course basically follows the NJ shoreline from North to South (and back again), so any course deviations like adding more beach or running another parallel shore street to get to an open aid station is fine and should not affect your mileage. The "spirit of the course" is to run 50 miles one way through: 6 NJShore islands, 5 boardwalks, 12 Ocean Drive bridges, and some beach!

This is F'in awesome! Let the madness begin...

NJShore Steve

The Animal Camp

Note for 2012- Keep your eyes peeled for details on the 2012 TAC100! Although we won't run the 2011 Jersey Shore course again, I'm sure it will be just as much of an Adventure! Likely a trail course for 2012, date and place to be determined (possible locations- Batona Trail, D & R Canal Trail, the Appalachian Trail @ the Delaware Water Gap, or some other NJ/PA local trails. Still will be a fat-ass endurance run, similar to the format above.

TAC100 Aid stations:

There are no real aid stations for the TAC100. Since this is a self-supported run where you will be carrying most of your fueling, we will be using convienence stores along the way for water and additional food items. The unofficial aid station of the TAC 100M will be Wawa- there should be at least one open in every town along the way. I have also compiled a list of every other store or open restaurant/bar along the route or nearby, with phone numbers. Hopefully, we can also round up some volunteers into driving a couple of support vehicles.

TAC100 Aid Stations:

"+" = on or very near course. "-" = off the course/emergency.

"M#" = mile marker from start, only for out portion.

Margate-

M0 +Robert's Place, 7807 Atlantic Ave, MG 823-5050

M1 +Wawa 9300 Ventnor Ave, MG 822-5167

Longport-

Ocean City-

+Pizza 719 Battersea Road, OC 398-3322 (11A-10P)

M7 +Mack&M 758 BW OC 399-2783 (11:30A-10P)

+7-11 Boardwalk & 9, OC 391-9556 (closed?)

Wawa -1250 West Avenue, OC 398-7754 (24hr)

M10 +Wawa 110 34th Street, OC 398-6080 (24hr)

Strathmere-

M14 +Deauville Inn- Willard Rd, SM 263-2080 (til 11-12AM)

Sea Isle City-

M18 +Wawa 3800 Landis Avenue, SIC 263-2330 (6-11)

M18 +Lacosta Lounge, JFK Blvd, SIC (til 2AM)

+7-11 5001 Landis Avenue, SIC 263-1421 (closed?)

Townsends Inlet-

Avalon-

M23 -Wawa 2701 Ocean Drive, AV 967-3326 (6-11)

-SM 2868 Dune Drive, AV 967-1108

Stone Harbor-

M27 +Wawa 3 94th St, SH 368-3265 (6-11)

M27 Fred's Tavern, 96th St, SH (til 2AM?)

+Market 10729 3rd Avenue, SH 368-2993 (closed?)

Wildwood

M32 +Wawa 303 New Jersey Avenue, NWW 522-2403 (24hr)

-7-11 3501 New Jersey Avenue, WW 522-7710

-Wawa 3200 New Jersey Avenue, WW 729-8701 (24hr)

M38 +Market, 9950 Pacific, WW Crest 846-9000 (fri7-5P, 7-7P)

Cape May

M42 +Wawa 1426 Texas Avenue, CM 884-6753 (24 hr)

M46 +7-11 100 Broadway, West CM 898-0229 (5-12AM)

TAC100 course cards starting from Margate and ending in Cape May, numbered 1-16. If you download them into the same directory and then use the Microsoft Photo Wizard to print them 4 to a page, you can make a nice 8 card deck (double sided) that fits in your pocket:

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14

15 16