The Daytona 100 is a Florida race that runs along ocean road A1A from Jacksonville Beach to the historic Ponce Inlet lighthouse at the tip of the barrier island, a few miles south of Daytona Beach. The course is beautiful and diverse, through laid-back Florida beach towns, the very exclusive oceanfront homes of Ponte Vedra, historic St. Augustine—America’s oldest city—and eclectic Daytona Beach. Each distance includes a bridge across the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway but is otherwise flat and fast. With distances including 100 miles, 50 miles or 50k or a 100-mile relay team, each event finishes at Davies Park in a picturesque landscape at the foot of the lighthouse.
Like all ultras, the unexpected is inevitable and the 10th annual Daytona 100 was no exception. Two weeks of daily weather forecasts showed expected highs of around 70 degrees and lows in the 60s. There was a nominal chance of rain—15-20%—and relatively strong winds expected out of the northeast to assist everyone down the course. That’s mostly what the 50k runners experienced but beginning in late afternoon on Saturday, the longer races, and particularly the 100-milers, got nailed with rain, heavy at times, blown sideways by easterly winds. The runners, aid stations and finish line staff got wet and sometimes flooded, and few of us were prepared with rain gear. The finish rate of 65% for the 100-mile distance was low for this race, but those who made it have stories to tell.
The 50k female record was smashed by over an hour with Salud Cerruti of Boca Raton, Florida, finishing first overall in 4:08:51. Second overall and first male was Robert Margalis of Costa Mesa, California, in 4:39:15.
Marc Burget of Jacksonville, Florida, won the 50-mile race in 6:57:37, and the first female was Monica Perrault of Panama City Beach, Florida, in 9 hours flat.
The 100-mile distance featured a very dramatic finish with Jamal Ryan of San Diego running 16:01:40 and appearing to be the winner by 1.5 hours, but Rafael Cuza Villarreal of Davie, Florida, started in a corral one hour later and finished in 15:42:29. Cuza, who also won the Keys 100 in May in his first 100-mile race, proved beyond a doubt that he is now among the very best 100-mile runners in Florida and the southeast.
With options to run with or without a support crew, and very strong race support along the course, the Daytona 100 will return on December 13, 2025, for its 11th running.