March Madness....Let the Insanity begin

In a marathoner/endurance runner's version of doing the total 'dream weekend' there's only two weekends that really come to mind: the Martin Luther King, Jr weekend, when the annual HURT 100 is put on; and the weekend of March 15-16, 2008 when the Run to the Sun and the Hilo marathon have been scheduled on back-to-back days (quite a rare event)!
A group of our intrepid and daring Runners' HI/HI Marathon Maniacs have stepped up to bat, errr..., the starting line to attempt what may seem total luncracy!!! Here's a small preview of this psychotic weekend of pain & glory:

DAY 1: Saturday, March 15th


EVENT: 2008 Run-to-the-Sun

START TIME: 4:30 AM!!!


A 36-mile ultra marathon starting at sea level and climbing to the 10,023 ft. summit of Haleakala, legendary "Home of the Sun." This challenging course, is not for the novice marathoner. entrants must be 18 years or older and rigorously prepared to meet the challenge of the strict 10-hour time limit.

You can view the website here, along with links to the list of entrants, placement of aid stations, and other pertient race forms.

DAY 2: March 16th

EVENT: 2008 Big Island (Hilo) International Marathon

This certified, scenic course follows "the coast of old Hawaii" along the Pacific Ocean, past exotic waterfalls, over narrow bridges and lava beaches. Start to mile 10 is a net downhill of 500 ft., with some hills in the first 8 miles but fairly flat after that.
Hilo is located in one of the cooler, more lush parts of the "Big Island" of Hawaii, which translates into good running conditions.
Enthusiastic volunteers at well-stocked aid stations, awards given in various age groups, entertainment and great food at the Finish Line make this a memorable event for everyone.

Here's the link to the race site. There's also a 10.8-mile run and 5k run/walk events as well!

The training's begun and many have already wondered what'll be like come that weekend! FUN! FUN! FUN! Hope our van driver has those IV's and shots of tequila ready!

OBSESSION CONFESSION

This from the Head HI Maniac himself (actually a previous article he wrote for the 'new' Athletes HI)...maniacles!!! Just in time for our 'March Madness' (more on that in the next entry):

I am a maniac. Really, I am a Maniac. And I am not alone.
Many people have hobbies that dominate their lives. For some it is fishing or golfing while for others it is hiking or surfing. For many these interests move beyond the average hobby becoming passions or obsessions. Collectors share a common bond. Whether they collect stamps, wines, baseball cards or vintage automobiles, their common interests bond these collectors. I collect marathons, and I am serious.
I started in 1994 with an innocuous goal of running the Great Aloha Run. It was quite a challenge, as I had never run longer than eight miles. My partners and I trained for months and successfully completed the eight and a quarter mile run from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium. It was difficult but we persevered. Bolstered, we decided to continue our training and attempt the Honolulu Marathon ten months later.
There is a saying, "Want to win a race, run a mile. Want to experience a life changing event, run a marathon". Crossing that finish line on Kalakaua Avenue at my first Honolulu Marathon was an epiphany. I was hooked and literally took the line and ran. The Honolulu Marathon became an annual event but I soon discovered that a change of scenery was good. I started to venture to the neighbor islands with my compadres Johnny and Alfredo. Hilo, Kona, Volcano and Maui host marathons each year and soon became annual events. We also discovered that there are numerous marathons each weekend on the mainland and looked for those that fit into our schedules and gave them a try.
It was at one of the races that I met others like me. I am a Marathon Maniac! I belong to an online group of runners, http://www.marathonmaniacs.com/. We are bonded by our common passion. We collect marathons. The Maniacs are represented at almost every marathon. There are currently about a dozen Maniacs from Hawaii and over seven hundred worldwide. The Maniacs are a diverse group of people who are bonded by a passion to complete marathons. Finishing times are not crucial for many of our members though there are many accomplished among us. Sam Thompson ran 52 marathons in 50 states in 50 days as a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina (doing so months before Dean K). It is not unusual to see a Maniac at the top of a leader board in local runs. However, most Maniacs are average "Joes". Few have the typical lean bodies of the elite runner. Looks belie the ability and determination of these older veteran runners.
The Marathon Maniacs have criteria for membership into the club. Stars are awarded based on levels of achievement. The minimum qualification for membership is completing three marathons in three months. Running a marathon in back to back days is also acceptable. These Maniacs begin at the one star or Bronze level. Those who complete 52 marathons or 30 states or 20 countries in a calendar year achieve the highest or ten star Titanium levels. There are a few who reach this goal each year.
My sixty plus lifetime marathons are moderate in the Maniac realm. Part time Hawaii resident, Robert Lopez will finish over 60 runs in 2007 alone. The quest for more stars drives some Maniacs to lofty goals. I hope to reach the century mark in a few years. After all, I am a Maniac! -Maniacles

Congrats to our rookie Ultramarathoners!!!

Sorry this took a while, was waiting for some pics to get 'developed' from the Hilo to Volcanot 50k run. Yup, not totally reliant on the digital technology yet. Anyway this was a long time in coming but a big CONGRATULATIONS!!! to first-time ultramarathoners:

WilyCoyote

Mark 'Onipa`a One' (yellow Runner's HI singlet)

and Wyatt 'Smooth' (middle in yellow Runner's HI sleeveless jersey)

Another notch on the belts!!! Great job and keep up the good work
A special Mahalo Nui and Aloha to our new friend Hide!!! It was his first ultrarun (after finding out he couldn't do Hilo Marathon again...great substitute race)!! Congrats!!!

Motivation and Inspiration

A good friend of mine was wondering about how does one become motivated to keep running. Some of the new Ohana even wonder how and why one would want to endure such pain in taking on high endurance events. Moreover how do you keep yourself going when things start to fall apart during those long mileage races? There's more to 'because it's there'.
In the past few months, the Ohana has had many ups and downs, gains and losses. During this past Hilo to Volcano 50k, I dedicated those miles to a few people whose predicaments have made me wanna go those extra miles and do the unthinkable. Even though things were looking bad, I always had frame of mine that 'Hey this is nothing compared to what Valerie and her family and Laura have been going through!' Hence the push forward despite all the odds!
The Runner's HI Ohana would like to wish the Vedder family (view the website)and Laura (checkout her blog) much aloha and let them know that they are in our thoughts! We are Ohana and we're there for ya!
Speaking of which, in volunteering at the HURT 100 race, we remember one of the great road grinders of Honolulu who is currently stationed in Iraq. He actually ran 100 miles at the same time to commerate the race and the participants in it (as he was a entrant, see the article). Ben YOU DA MAN!
If that's not enough, while browsing the Ironman and Marathon Maniac websites, I found the best line of motivation: 'PAIN IS TEMPORARY, GLORY IS FOREVER!!!'

But I think Ben has an even better one (this is the motto for HURT!):

Hilo2Volcano...a brief overview (pt 1)

Here's a short overview of events that occurred during the ascent up the slopes of Kilauea this past weekend. Pardon while the participants continue to either come down from Cloud Nine in completing thier first ultra-marathon or clearing the clouds from their crania...in my case I'm still 'defrosting'!
Race began at 6am with 'roll-call' by the 'Big Dog'! Was so dark that we barely find the start line! The ultramarathoners (foolhardy) took off half an hour prior to the start of the teams.

A light drizzle fell about 1/2 an hour into the event, with temperatures at sea-level in the cool 70s. That would change drastically as the runners made thier way up the 'hill'.
About 2 hours later, the rain started coming down. The lead pack had reached about 1000 ft amsl, with temps starting to drop a bit. While there were a few major ascents, most of the road from mile 11 on remained a steady incline that one would hardly notice if they weren't running 31.4-miles.

By mile 20, things were starting to unravel for some. It was getting cold as the runners got intot the 2000 ft elevation range. The clouds were rolling in and even though the showers became intermittent, there was a good deal of moisture in the air. The roads were pretty wet, so vehilces passing by would send a good mist into the air. Visibility began to decrease so one couldn't quite see what lay on the horizon.

In reaching the 3000 ft amsl level, there's alot that goes through one's head, especially after running over 3/4 of a marathon distance uphill and in bad weather conditions. How much further? Why am I doing this? I'm hungry!!! For my part... I'm frrrrreeeezzzing! (Having less than 5% body fat has it's disadvantages...having the common sense not to put on additional clothes makes it worse!)
The elevation brings about another little problem for some...hypoxia. The mind is already beleaguered by the distance covered, with the lower amount of oxygen concentration in the air things start to become a bit more dramatic.
Upon reaching mile 26, runners were to make a right turn onto Wright Street (no pun intended) and proceed PAST the finish area, continuing down about two miles until they sighted the turnaround area. Few problems here...small arrows along the very edge of the pavement don't constitute a good marker for drenched, cold & tired runners to look for; having these same people go past the finish seems like plain torture; and a turnaround point shouldn't be a small insignificant cone with a small u-turn arrow drawn around it! Anyway it was agreed upon by most that those last two miles back to Cooper Station were either the hardest miles ever ran or just plain fun!
All finished within the allowed seven hours, though a bit drenched and cold (some more than others). Nothing a nice hot tub, a few beers, and some great grinds can't fix.

We all had a VERY memorable experience. Want to thank all for thier support, especially our three SAG wagon drivers. Moreover want to send big Mahalos to our party host Billy who let us 'soak it up' in the tub and hang at his awesome house!

More pics from the day to come!