The YMCA Critz Tybee Run Fest, a two-day running event taking place the first weekend of February as a fundraiser for the YMCA of Coastal Georgia. This year welcomes Tracey Newenhouse, a New Jersey paramedic and grandmother who has chosen the Run Fest’s Chu’s Mart Half Marathon as her 300th half marathon.
Tracey will be wearing bib number 300 to celebrate. Newenhouse ran her first half marathon at the age of 24 in 1985 while training for her first full marathon. Between 1985 and 2008, she ran eight more marathons.
“In 2009, I decided I wanted to try and complete a marathon each month,” she says. “I was successful, except for July that year. In 2010 and 2011, I was trying to complete a marathon in each of the 50 states, and I finished my 50th state in September of 2011 in Akron, Ohio.”
In reaching her 50-marathons-in-50-states goal, Tracey says she completed a few half marathons here and there before running her 100th full marathon in Philadelphia in June of 2013, and decided that she could give her body a rest and focus on less-taxing half marathons, collecting medals in each state. The state of Hawaii became number 50 in November 2017. Number 100 was achieved in Wyoming in June of 2019; Tracey hit 200 in Dallas in November 2020, and 250 in Aruba in June 2022.
This won’t be the first time Tracey has run at the YMCA Critz Tybee Run Fest, which is now the chief fundraising event for the YMCA of Coastal Georgia with Critz Auto Group as the title sponsor—she also ran the event’s half marathon in 2015 when it was still hosted by Critz Auto.
“My daughter was going to the University of South Carolina (at the time), so I drove down to visit her, and she drove me to Tybee. I found it to be a very quaint beach town and had a good race. At that time in my life, I was having a streak where I could break the two-hour time barrier!”
In 2016, Newenhouse was in a car accident, suffering broken ribs and several pelvic fractures. She spend a week in a hospital and two more in a rehabilitation facility.
Since recovery from the accident, she says she mostly power walks now to avoid the impact on her hips and joints that running on asphalt can cause. She says she plans to keep going as long as she can: in addition to 299 half marathons, she has also completed 139 full marathons, and enjoys doing triathlons in warmer weather.
Newenhouse says she chose the Tybee Run as number 300 for several reasons. First, it’s being held on her 63rd birthday. Second, it’s a flat course. Third, it’s a reasonable flight from her home in New Jersey.
“My two friends and fellow running enthusiasts will be joining me for this milestone—they’ll drive out from Arkansas. I so appreciate it when I have friends and family at the finish line...it doesn’t happen that often, so I enjoy it that much more when it does!”
Tracey is even planning to leave Tybee Island on Saturday and head to Jacksonville for half marathon number 301 on Sunday, the Run with Donna fundraiser for breast cancer research.
Says Newenhouse about when she’ll be ready to hang up her sneakers, “I plan to keep going as long as I can.”
YMCA Critz Tybee Run Details
YMCA Critz Tybee Run Fest weekend—February 2 and 3—begins with the Mauldin & Jenkins Kiddie Run at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening, then closes day one with the Chamaco’s Tacos & Surf 5K at 6 p.m. Saturday morning starts bright an early with The Collins Quarter 10K at 7 a.m., then the Chu’s Mart Half-Marathon at 8:30 a.m. and the noon BankSouth 2.8-Mile Beach Run, wrapping up with the West Construction Company One-Mile Run at 1 p.m. Runners completing all five events will have done 26.2 miles, a full marathon distance. Packet pick-up will take place at the race site near the base of the Tybee Pier beginning Friday at 2 p.m. and continue throughout the weekend, with check-in closing 30 minutes before the beginning of each race.
Kiddie Run participation is free but requires advance registration as participants will receive and shirt and finisher medal. A special Savannah Magazine Saturday VIP Experience is available as an add-on to race registration for $50, and will include locally-made snacks, hot coffee, a private Bellini and mimosa bar, extra-comfortable seating and a one-year subscription to Savannah Magazine.
For full race information, visit TybeeRunFest.com. For media inquiries, contact Summer Bozeman at [email protected] or (770) 354-1364.
About the YMCA of Coastal Georgia
The YMCA of Coastal Georgia has been serving the Coastal Georgia community for 168 years, and continues to work every day to advance its cause to strengthen community through its three areas of focus; youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Today the YMCA of Coastal Georgia operates 11 units in Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh Counties; included is the YMCA's Before- and After-School Enrichment Program operating in 55 elementary and middle schools throughout the markets served. The YMCA serves men and women, girls and boys of all ages and from all walks of life. All of this and more is accomplished while putting forth the Y mission to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.
