Mt. Pleasant, SC, Oct. 18 – The Tuna Relay returns to Jones County on Friday, Oct. 22 - Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 with runners on local roads beginning at 10PM through 10:00AM. The Tuna Relay /70 starts at the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department at 3:30AM on Saturday, Oct 23.

This race will be joining the Tuna Relay /200 that starts in Garner, NC on Friday. All teams with an approximate combined 700 runners will finish on the Atlantic Beach boardwalk on Saturday afternoon. Residents who live along the route are asked to secure their dogs while runners come through the area. Loose dogs can lead to dangerous situations for both runners and dogs. Runners will travel from Pink Hill in Lenoir County to Comfort, Trenton, Pollocksville and Maysville in Jones County on their way to Stella in Carteret County.

Each of the teams will have one runner on local roads at a time with support vans and teammates nearby. Runners will be on the following roads approaching Trenton: Jonestown Rd. to US 258 to E. Pleasant Hill Rd. Then to Pleasant Hill Rd., Weyerhauser Rd./CR 1142, NC 41 and NC 58. From the Jones Co. Government Complex, the runners will continue on NC 58 to Davis Field Rd./CR 1119, Pole Pocosin Rd./CR 1115, White Oak River Road/SR 1116 and 4th and Main Street into Maysville.

The 200-mile course along the back roads of eastern North Carolina is split into 36 legs, and teams of 4-12 runners will cover the 200 miles. The Tuna Relay /70 teams of 2-6 runners will be splitting 12 legs. Counties through which racers will travel include Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Sampson, Duplin, Lenoir, Jones, Onslow and Carteret. “After a year without racing, we are excited to be back! We’ve missed it, and the runners have missed it. The number of participants is down slightly for this year, and we expected that. With this being an outdoor event with runners spaced out over 200 miles, we feel we offer a safe and fun event,” Race Director Brian Malak said.

The Tuna Relay /200 and Tuna Relay /70 are great fun for everyone – you don’t have to be an ultra runner to enjoy them. For a 12-person team in the Tuna Relay /200 and a 6-person team in the Tuna Relay /70, the distances and training are similar to that of a half marathon. Teams should average a 10-minute pace or faster. #