On December 10, I ran the Honolulu Marathon. I’ve done this race twice before. In 2009, Deb and I went on a 7-day Hawaii cruise out of Honolulu that visited three other islands before returning to Oahu. The day after our cruise, I ran the marathon. In 2015, I returned to Honolulu by myself to run the marathon again, so I could complete my second circuit of marathons in every state. This year, Deb and I came back to Hawaii together.
A few weeks before our trip,
Deb started experiencing severe pain in her left knee. After she had an MRI, her doctor advised her not
to put any weight on that knee for at least three weeks. Obviously, that put limitations on our
plans. We were able to get Deb a light,
compact transfer chair before the trip. Deb
could still get around, but she needed me to be with her to push her. We could still go where we wanted, as long as
it was paved and didn’t involve steps.
What we couldn’t do was to go our separate ways. If I went running or went to packet pickup by
myself, Deb wouldn’t be able to shop or do sightseeing on her own.
Friday, December 8
We arrived in Honolulu in
the late afternoon after a nine-hour flight from Minneapolis. It was a direct flight, but it was still a
long travel day. By the time we got to
our hotel in Waikiki, it was 6:30 PM. There’s
a four-hour time difference between Minnesota and Hawaii, so to us it felt like
10:30 PM.
We had enough food on our
flight that we didn’t need to have dinner. After checking in and unpacking a few things, I
went to a nearby ABC store to pick up food for breakfast. The running joke is that ABC stands for “All
Blocks Covered.” You rarely walk more
than a block in Waikiki without passing one.
Saturday, December 9
We were up well before
dawn. Nothing is open that early, so we
ate a light breakfast in our room, and I went down to the fitness center to do
a workout. As soon as the sun came up, I
went for a run around Diamond Head Crater.
After my run, we had
brunch at Lulu’s Restaurant. This is my
favorite breakfast spot in Waikiki. It’s
a second floor restaurant, and I didn’t see any way to get up to the restaurant
other than the stairs. I went in to ask
if there was another way up and found out there’s a hallway to the restaurant
from the second floor of the adjacent hotel.
Going through the hotel worked fine.
It pays to ask.
Next, we went shopping at
Duke’s Marketplace. This is an alleyway
in the center of Waikiki where dozens of vendors set up market stalls to sell
souvenirs.
After bringing Deb back
to the hotel, I walked over to the Hawaii Convention Center to pick up my race
packet. I knew there was a trolley that
went to the expo, but I did know where the stops were. I couldn’t find any information about it on
the website for the marathon, so I just walked there and back.
We spent the rest of the afternoon alternately shopping and relaxing. Here’s a view of Diamond Head from the hotel’s pool deck on the third floor.
The only other
sightseeing I did was to walk out to the end of Waikiki Walk. I couldn’t bring Deb out there, because there’s
too much sand for a wheelchair.
We had an early dinner at
an Italian restaurant in Waikiki. They
normally don’t open until 5:00, but for marathon runners who wanted to carbo
load, they opened at 3:30.
Sunday, December 10
Sunday was race day. The race started at 5:00 AM, but the start
was two miles from our hotel, so I took a bus to the start. The buses left from a street alongside the
Honolulu Zoo. Our hotel was on that
street, so I was able to walk across the street from the hotel to catch a
bus. The last bus leaves at 3:45, so I
had to be up pretty early.
I got up at 2:30, but I
wasn’t ready to leave the hotel until 3:20.
I didn’t realize I was cutting it close.
After crossing the street, I saw the line of runners waiting to board a
bus. I wasn’t surprised that the line
went all the way down the street. What surprised
me was seeing that the line went around the corner. When I got to the corner, I couldn’t see the
end of the line. I had to walk for five
minutes just to get to the back of the line.
The line moved fast, but I wasn’t on a bus until 3:45. By then, there were only a few buses left,
and they were packing them so full that several of us had to stand in the
aisle.
Once I was on a bus, it
only took 15 minutes to get to the start area at Ala Moana Park. I still had an hour before the race
started. I spent 20 minutes of that in
line to use a port-o-potty. Then I
started walking to the start corrals.
The start corrals
stretched out for several blocks. From
the back, you couldn’t even see the starting line. Based on my estimated finish time, I was
assigned to the blue start group. My
race bib has a blue background. I saw other
runners with bibs that had orange, green, or purple backgrounds. There may have been a few other colors as
well. As I walked toward the starting
line, I expected to see signs for the various color groups. Instead, I saw signs for numbered zones. I didn’t know how these zones corresponded to
the different colors.
I kept walking until I
could see the starting line, and I lined up at a distance that made sense to
me. I knew from experience that you need
to be fairly close to the start if you plan to run the whole way. This race has no time limit, and a substantial
percentage of the participants will walk the whole way.
I lined up close enough
to the front that I was reasonably sure that there wouldn’t be any walkers in
front of me. Looking around me, I saw
runners with bibs of all different colors.
Everyone was deciding for themselves where to line up.
When the race started,
fireworks went off. I took one quick
picture and then put away my phone, so I could start running.
It was still about 90
minutes before dawn. The first several miles
were in the dark, but we were on city streets with plenty of street
lights. I never had any trouble seeing
the road.
For the first half mile,
I had to weave around slower runners. After
that, there were no longer any slower runners in front of me, so I could find
my own pace.
I felt like I was running
at a pace that might be too fast for the conditions. It was 75 degrees with high humidity. By the end of the first mile, I was already
feeling the humidity. Then I realized I
wasn’t feeling any wind.
I ran the first mile in 9:40. That’s a minute slower than most of my recent marathons. It was closer to the pace of an easy training run, yet it didn’t feel easy. It didn’t feel like it would be sustainable for a marathon. I generally hold up well in hot temperatures, but if the humidity is high enough, it can force me to slow down. Mile two was a little faster, but then I slowed to about 9:40 for the next two miles.
The first time I reached
an aid station, I only saw water. In
cooler conditions, I’ll sometimes skip an aid station if there’s no
Gatorade. In these conditions, I had to
take in fluid at every opportunity. If I
saw Gatorade, I drank it. If I didn’t, I
was happy to drink water. The important
thing was to drink at every aid station.
The first four miles were
a loop through the downtown area. Then
we went past Ala Moana Park again and headed toward Waikiki.
As I reached Waikiki, I
started to slow down. In the next few
miles, my pace slowed into the 9:50s. It
still seemed like I was working too hard.
At about six miles, we left
Waikiki and reached Kapiolani Park, where the race would eventually
finish. They had a 10K race called “Start
to Park.” It started out the same way as
the marathon, but finished in Kapiolani Park.
We ran around one side of
the park on Diamond Head Road. Then we
continued to run past the south side of Diamond Head Crater.
Going past Diamond Head,
there were only two lanes. We had to stay
in the left lane, because runners would eventually come back on the other side
of the road. I though it would be a long
time before anyone would come back. I
didn’t think about how much faster the elite wheelchair athletes would be.
In the eighth mile, I
started up a gradual hill. I didn’t want
to work too hard on the hill, so I allowed myself to slow down. That was the first mile that took me more
than 10 minutes. It would also be the
last.
It was also in the eighth
mile that I started to feel a strong breeze.
We were near the coast, and the breeze really helped to counter the
effects of the humidity.
By now, I could make out
the shapes of clouds. At ground level,
it was still dark, but the sky was beginning to lighten.
By the end of the ninth
mile, I saw several pace vehicles go by on the other side of the road. They were ensuring the lane was clear for the
lead wheelchair athlete. I was too lazy to
figure out what his pace was, but it was obviously fast. I was just getting to nine miles, and he was
already past 23. The wheelers started
before the runners, but only by five minutes.
The next several miles
were slightly rolling, but we enjoyed a cool breeze. It was usually a headwind, but it wasn’t
strong enough to be tiring. It helped a
great deal with the humidity.
The first seven miles had
been flat. My pace was generally in the
9:40s and 9:50s, and it felt tiring. The
next several miles wouldn’t be as flat, yet they were much easier. Now my pace ranged from the 9:30s to the
9:40s, and it didn’t feel tiring. The
wind was a gamechanger.
The next several miles
were mostly out-and-back. As I reached
the 18K mark, I saw another pace vehicle.
This one was in front of the lead male.
The next two runners were close behind.
By the time I finished 11
miles, there was plenty of light at ground level. The sun was above the horizon by now, but I
couldn’t see it yet. It was too low in
the sky to be visible above trees and buildings.
In mile 12, I
inadvertently sped up. I ran that mile
in 9:13. That was much faster than any previous
mile, but it didn’t feel like it. It’s
possible that mile was downhill. I certainly
wasn’t trying to speed up.
I saw more pace vehicles
go by. This time it was the lead
women. Two women were running stride for
stride, while a third gave chase.
A lot of people walk this
race or run it slowly, but there’s no shortage of competition among the elite
athletes. Before the race, they
announced that the first place male and female would each get a solid gold
medal weighing more than six ounces.
They had these medals on display at the expo.
Before the race, I told
Deb I would finish sometime between 9:00 and 9:30 AM. That corresponds to a finish time between
4:00 and 4:30. At the halfway mark, I was
on pace to be right in the middle of that range. I assumed at this point that I would slow
down in the second half. In a few miles,
the conditions would get much tougher.
Between 15 and 17 miles,
we did a loop that would eventually lead us back to the same road, but in the
opposite direction. I was about halfway
through this loop when I stopped feeling the wind. It was gradually changing from a headwind to
a tailwind as we changed directions.
That might sound like good news, but it isn’t. When it’s hot and humid, the wind is your
friend. A headwind will cool you
off. A tailwind doesn’t provide the same
cooling effect.
At about 16 miles, I heard
someone in the crowd call my name. We
all had our names on our race bibs, but this sounded like someone who
recognized me. I turned my head in time
to see Glen, who lives here. I was
surprised to see him in the crowd. I
thought he would be running the race.
By 17 miles, I was starting
to feel the sun. It wasn’t
constant. There were still shady areas,
but when I was out in the open, the heat of the sun was one more thing that
would make the last nine miles more difficult.
I fully expected to slow
down now, but I didn’t. In the previous
few miles my times were consistently in the 9:30s. Now, my slower miles were in the 9:30s, but my
faster miles were in the 9:20s.
Often, I’ll work hard to
maintain or improve my pace in the second half of a race. I wasn’t trying to do that. This wasn’t a goal race for me. My next race has a fast course, and I’ll be
gunning for a fast time. I was planning
to hold back in this race, to make sure I would still have gas in the tank for
the next one.
I was on auto-pilot. I don’t know if I was simply continuing to
run with the same rhythm, or if I was subconsciously running at the same pace as
the people around me. Usually, the
runners around me will begin to slow down in the second half of a race. That didn’t seem to be happening. I was speeding up slightly, but I wasn’t passing
the other runners.
The next few miles were
tough, but I kept up my pace. When I got
to 20 miles, I could see the top of Diamond Head in the distance. I knew it was still a few miles away. I also knew the finish would be a few miles
beyond that. Still, it was a tangible
sign of my progress as I headed back toward the city.
By now, the sun was
getting higher in the sky. There were
still shady spots, but most of the time the sun was on me.
After the 22 mile mark, I
started passing most of the other runners around me. Some were walking, but I was also passing the
ones who were still running. I assumed
the people around me were finally slowing down in the heat. I was wrong.
At 23, I saw that I had sped up to 8:58 in that mile. That was my fastest mile so far by a wide
margin.
I was almost back to
Diamond Head Road. Before I got there, I
had to climb a gradual hill. There was a
brief downhill, but once I turned onto Diamond Head Road, I had to go uphill
again. I slowed in mile 24, but not by
much. It was still faster than 9:20.
Now I was on the last
hill. It was the same hill that slowed
me down in mile eight, but now I was approaching it from the opposite
direction. I knew I would crest the hill
just before the 40K mark. I also knew it
would be mostly downhill from there to the finish.
By now, it was obvious to
be that I was going to run negative splits.
My pace in the second half had been consistently faster than my pace in
the first half. My slowest mile of the
first half was mile eight, when I was climbing this same hill from the other
side. That mile took 10:11. If I could run mile 25 in 10 minutes that
would still be faster.
I put some effort into
this hill. I thought I might slow down a
little, but I was pretty sure it would be faster than 10 minutes.
Near the top of the hill, there are two small parking areas for a scenic overlook. In one of these parking areas, there was a drum band, accompanies by a guy blowing a conch shell. I focused on the beat of the drums as I made it up the last part of the hill.
Just after I crested the
hill, I saw a beer stop set up in another parking area near the Diamond Head Lighthouse. If I was still going uphill, I would’ve
skipped it. Knowing I was beginning a
long downhill section, I saw no reason not to have a dixie cup of PBR before
charging down this hill.
When I got my split for
mile 25, I saw that I didn’t slow down at all.
I ran mile 25 in 9:19. That's the same time as mile 24, in spite of the hill. This was the mile that I would've been happy to run in 10 minutes.
It was downhill all the
way to Kapiolani Park, and I worked it.
I reached the 41K mark just before entering the park.
Earlier in the race, we
ran around one side of the park. Now, we
had to run around the other side. I had
just under half a mile to go, but I would have to go around one last bend
before I could see the finish line. The
finish was level, but most of mile 26 had been downhill. I sped up to 8:13 in that mile. That was by far my fastest mile of the race.
With about 100 meters to
go, I had a sudden urge to pee. Was that
the beer? Was that all the water and
Gatorade I drank during the race? Was I
starting to relax in anticipation of finishing?
I didn’t know, but I had to hold it in.
I finished the race in
4:10:18. I ran negative splits by six
minutes. If you told me I would do that
at the halfway mark, I wouldn’t have believed you. Conditions were tougher in the last 10 miles,
and I wasn’t trying for negative splits until the last three. It just happened.
The finisher medals had
the same design as the ones the winners received, but they weren’t made of
gold.
As I made my way through
the finish area, my first priority was making a bathroom stop. Then I picked up my finisher shirt. Most races give you a shirt at packet pickup,
but some of the older races still give you your shirt at the finish line. This is one of those old school races.
On my way out of the
park, I picked up a banana and a sweet roll to eat as I walked back to the
hotel.
For the rest of the day,
Deb and I stayed close to the hotel. We
each had different reasons for not wanted to venture out. Deb didn’t want to spend too much time in the
intense afternoon sun. I was too fatigued
from the race to do too much additional walking.
Tomorrow, we’ll fly to
Maui. To be continued …
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