So the Kona marathon race idea came about when Jillian and I, and a few other fellow 3Day walkers, realized we wouldn’t be able to walk together in 2012 in Tampa...as we have the previous several years. So I stumbled upon the Susan G Komen “Marathon for the Cure” instead. It’s the same basic concept of The3Day…raise donations for the breast cancer community and be sponsored by SGK. They also sponsor other marathons across the world, but we of course chose Hawaii! In return for the donations, participation, and help spreading the word, SGK hooked us up for 3 nights at the Sheraton on the Big Island of Hawaii with a breakfast package in an oceanview room….not too shabby!
With it being a 10+ hour flight, we arrived in Hawaii
(Oahu) 4 days before the race to get acclimated, and flew over to the Big
Island (about a 30 minute flight) 2 days before the race.
We had a 14 day itinerary in all (including Maui as well)
and it was jammed packed. So of course the day before the race, instead of
resting pool side, we decided on a road trip to the Southernmost point of the
US….oh, and then decided to jump off the cliffs! We then continued on a pretty
rough 4wheeling adventure to Green Sand Beach. It was a full day and we arrived
back at the hotel tired. Unfortunately the hotel was still under renovations,
so only 1 restaurant was open and it was turned into some sort of roast
buffet…not what we were looking forward to for a pre race dinner. Too tired to
go out, we splurged on room service which luckily had a pasta dish and a
sandwich. We had a little late of a night, having to pin all the pink ribbons
onto our skirts.
Morning came early, as the sun rises about 5am in Hawaii.
Breakfast included fresh banana macadamia nut bread and apple bananas we had
picked up from the local farmers market. We drove to start which was just down
the street but included too brutal of a couple hills to walk. When we got into
the car, the most perfect song came on …“I Run to You” by Lady Antebellum. I
knew it was going to be a good day!
We had met the SGK Hawaii representatives at the Expo the
day before when we picked up our race packets and received a bag full of
goodies. They also found us race morning before the start as we were passing
out pink ribbon bracelets to runners as a reminder to feel their boobies. It
was nice to have a little support. They were super excited about our ‘costumes’…pink
ribbon ‘tutus’ and pink ribbon boppers on our heads.
We were a little disappointed though on how small of a
turn out SGK had. There were only 7 of us that actually raised the minimum
donation amount. In comparison to say the Team in Challenge (who helps the
Crohns and Colitis community) who had several hundred participants, trainers
coaching the runners on the sidelines, and cheerleaders at just about every
mile!
We did however, receive our moment in the spotlight, as
we made it to the starting line, handing out our pink bracelets, we seemed to
capture a lot of attention and once one person started taking pictures,
everyone wanted to take pictures! This caught the attention of the loud speaker
announcer who started talking about breast cancer! Awesome! It felt good to get some publicity for the
cause. Was completely different than any other race I have done by myself!
The Kona Marathon has both a full and half marathon, as well as a 5k and 10k which
all run the same out and back course, along the waterfront, through Kailua-Kona, up
north and then back. It was gorgeous scenery. The temps were a little on the
warm and humid side, since it had been raining the night before. I was already
sweating before the start. But it was good that Jillian and I are used to that
kind of weather. Unfortunately a lot of people come in for the race that were not…we
passed 3 ambulances assisting people throughout the race.
This was the 19th annual, with 385 marathoners
and 632 half marathoners. It had a small town feel to it, which made it good
and bad. Pros included well placed hydration stations, the Expo was pretty good
for the size of race, lei given with the medal to give an Aloha feel,
sprinklers set out for when the heat rose. Cons included the race shirt was not given
until the finish line and was kinda hidden, so some people forgot theirs. We
were almost walking out before remembering. Also, the mileage was not exactly
on mark. I also did not see porta potties. This may because we did not need
any, but I still did not see any. All and all I would say this was one of my
favorite races. Location probably helped ;)
The course had a few hills, but nothing unbearable. We
decided to go with the run a minute/walk a minute method…as this was Jillians
first race and in training hadn’t gone further than 9 miles. It ended up being
a piece of cake for me. I was surprised as this was how I started only a little
over a year ago. I could feel my progress. And it was good because I was able
to focus on motivating Jillian instead of pushing myself. But honestly, she did
Awesome! She ran a lot faster during our runs than I expected and I have no
doubt that she will have an awesome racing future! I also have to give her big
props for being the top SGK fundraiser, raising almost $5,000 this year alone!!
The course stations provided Ultima…which I had never
heard of before, but was really awesome! It did not leave a thick taste in your
mouth like other drinks. I was able to run without a GU, getting plenty of
nutrients from it. Jillian had to take 1 GU at Mile 11.
Team Challenge had a huge presence in this race. They
were everywhere, and had their trainers on the side lines pushing them through,
and cheerleaders cheering them on! We kinda got jealous of all the support, so
we decided to be our own support and every time they yelled “Go Team
Challenge”…we yelled “Go Team Komen!” We
ended up passing 2 other Komen participants, so that was fun to see!
The out and back course allowed for us to pass the Elite
runners as they were heading back towards the finish….half marathoners AND
marathoners!! It is my favorite part of the race, as I inspire to run fast one
day!
My IPOD died about mile 4…not the first time this has
happened to me, so I wasn’t that worried. I’ve actually been doing a lot of
training without it. And Hawaii was the perfect place to go without it! Not
only was there perfect scenery of the ocean, and gorgeous bright flowers
everywhere, but without the IPOD I got to take in all the sounds of the birds
chirping and waves crashing. It was an amazing experience!
At mile 6, near the turnaround point, we came to a
cheering station with someone’s car blasting “Im sexy and I know it”. ..we had
to stop and do the “wiggle, wiggle, wiggle” dance! Everyone loved our outfits
throughout town…most calling us Bunnies…but we got a lot of Thumbs Up!
We started out overcast, but the sun made its appearance
in the last couple miles. I was definitely happy we had decided on the half
instead of the full at this point. (we originally registered for the full, but
training set backs put us on the downgrade list). It was humid and very little
breeze. There were some sprinkler stations that were put out to help cool you
down. Jillian even got some head chills a couple times, which slowed us a
little towards the end, but she pushed through and we completed in good time!
The finish line included a lot of post race food and beer
as well as a shell lei and medal. …and of course lots of celebration! We headed
back to the Sheraton pool and lounged Oceanside the rest of the day!