Jermaine JJ Ricketts won the 8-mile 2026 Ring Of Fire with a time of 01:09:13.2 shaving 5 seconds off his 2024 time when he had a downhill sprint finish with Sam Thompson. Peter May was second, 10 minutes and 50 seconds (01:21:59.6) behind – but only had the small hills of Virgin Gorda to train on! Vance De-Vaney (01:21:59.6) was hot on his tail, finishing 49 seconds behind. Rosmond Johnson topped the ladies with a time of 01:34:49.2, with Juliane Potgieter (01:35:32.0) nipping at her heels a scant 43 seconds behind her. Margy Church was third in 01:39:04.6.
Overcast conditions and rain met the 22 runners. The cool weather helped with the brutal climb out of Brewer’s Bay, but the rain made for treacherous conditions on the descent especially in the closing stages on the final descent to Brewer’s Bay. This resulted in some slowmo sprint finishes to the finish line at the beach.
The race started and finished at Nicole’s in Brewer’s Bay. The runners out east end of Brewer’s Bay, ran along the Ridge Road up to Sage Mountain car park, and back down to Brewer’s Bay on the western side.
A short 12.53km (7.78 mile) jaunt with 1,460m (4,760 feet) of elevation change.
