BOSTON!!!

At some point in every marathoner's life, they aspire to finally take part in the most historic and pinnacle of marathon running...the Boston Marathon! On April 21, 2008, about 42 runners from the Aloha State (or with ties here) participated in the 112th running of this presitigious race, nine of them representing the Ohana.

After arriving in Boston, they attended the Marathon Expo at the Hynes Center to do packet pickup and purchase some neat souveniors and omiyage! Managed to meet up with the Red Rabbit, but missed Maverick and his girlfriend who got delayed at their hotel.

Called Maniacles to report that the expo was like 'being a kid in a candy or toy store!' So much to see, do, and purchase. Met several other Hawai`i runners there, all having that same thought (many trying to resist the temptations of coming back with more than what they came in with).

Many were experiencing mixed feelings about how to approach

raceday. Perhaps the best remedy was touring the city. Not only is Boston home to the Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox, but it has perhaps some of the greatest historical sites representing our country's history!

Sites visited included the Boston Commons, Old Gramary Burial Ground (where Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and 'Mother Goose' are interred), Old State House (where the Boston Massacre took place), and Faneuil Hall. Other notable places were the New England Aquarium, Quincy Market (food of every sort), and the Cheers bars! Oh, can't forget, it's the former stomping grounds of Frayed Laces (who is now 'terrorizing' the streets on O`ahu)!

Raceday morning produced some problematics primarily weatherwise. Previous reports stated an overcast day with 30% chance of intermittent rain and temps in the range of mid 50-60s.

Monday, Patriot's Day, morning was more like low 50s with a high amount of clouds looming overhead, one could see their breath as they made their way to the start. This played on what to wear during the race. Eventually things began to warm up and just before guntime (5 minutes to be exact) the sun came out from behind the clouds. The rest of the day was picture perfect in terms of race conditions (for most) with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s.

One of the fun things about going to the Major Marathons is

being bussed to the start. One can meet alot of interesting people from various parts of not only the U.S. but also the rest of the world. Met a young lady from Chicago doing her second Boston and fourth marathon, who was recently married and thinking of going into triathlons. Her only problem was where she would go to train for swimming. After meeting up with the rest of the Hawai`i runners at the house of Aloha on 25 Main Street, the Ohana headed out for their respective starting corrals.

Overall the course was awesome and provided some of the most exihilarating fans cheering all the runners! From the start and especially entering Wellesley and Boston itself, it was like entering 'Scream Tunnel' twice! As Shaka, TC, and Maniacles advised, Heartbreak Hill was very overrated and I barely noticed it (though the hill prior to it was more of a gutcheck). Runners had to not only resist the urge to stop from fatigue and the various photo ops, but also to steal multiple kisses as they passed through Wellesley (for the males)!

Results for all of the Hawai`i finishers were reported on the Honolulu Advertiser site.

Here's how the Ohana faired (mahalos to Shaka for looking them all up):

Dave Eagar 2:50:00 (He beat Lance Armstrong by 58 seconds)
Jeff Fong 3:12:52 P.R. Yeah!!!
Coswin Saito 3:27:41
Joe Allen 3:35:27
Jim Woodhull 3:35:50
Mike Kasamoto 3:36:50
Jeff Nakasone 3:58:26
Gary Marr 4:07:15
Candy Smiley 4:09:57

All of the Ohana participants had an awesome Boston experience (more comments to come) and do have the lingering thought of returning next year. Next stop...San Diego!!!

Another weekend of races...and future events

After all the numerous weekends of marathoning the past few months, a couple of the Ohana decided to shorten the distance for this weekend. Both the Hawai`i and Mainland groups found they short races fun and exciting but not as satisfying as getting those 26.2 (or more) miles in! Some had to remember how to run the pace for these shorter (and faster) races!

This from the constantly energized Stroller Mom & Dad at the Westfields High 5K:

Aloha All! We did a local 5K this morning and had a similar wind tunnel effect on the final leg of the run. Actually, we ran from home to the start (about 3.5 miles) as a warm up, Harriett biked. I took the jogging stroller and headed out on the course about ten minutes before the race started in order to run the course and get a good photo spot. Why? Well, the race rules stated strollers (and dogs, roller blades and iPODs) weren't welcome. Fortunately, it was not a huge race, so the running crowd was minimal. I counted about a dozen iPOD-adorned runners before Dan and Harriett passed me.

Once Harriett was passed, I got the kids back into the stroller and continued the course. Was fast enough to get ahead of Harriett so I could capture her finish.

All in all, it was a beautiful morning. No placing by my intrepid runners, but they won gift certificates in the raffle and Grace scored a donut from one of the volunteers. A good time had by all. And we got to run home afterwards.

Not quite the warm up we used to do for Ford Island -- run over from Hickam. Then do the race, and run home via a huge breakfast at Wilbur and Orville's. But it was ours. And the cherry blossoms are at their best today. Glorious puffs of pink.

Annual Ford Island Bridge Run:

Several of the Hawai`i crew took to the challenge of 'defending the home course' (though it was running our Tuesday route backwards) as they joined about 2,000 other runners, joggers, walkers, and stroller pushers in doing an out-and-back 10k around Ford Island.

Though the Ohana had its fair share of members making visits to the podium, all just enjoyed the morning running in great conditions! Great job all!

Here's a few pics from race day! Enjoy!

Not to forget, Congratulations once again to the Johnson family on their new addition (dad and baby in pic below - 2nd on left bottom row)! Welcome back to running 'Dad'! Hope mom and baby can join us soon!

Next up for some will be the Boston Marathon on Monday (Patriots' Day), April 21st. Others will be looking forward to the next couple of weeks of racing as we are now in the midst of the triathlon season (article to come later).

Of important mention is our Runners' HI Ohana reunion in San Diego, fittingly to run the RocknRoll San Diego Marathon on June 1st! A contigent of HI runners will reunite and hang with many of our mainland Ohana whom moved to the mainland U.S.!

June will also bring about the 2nd Annual Hibiscus Half-Marathon and the Kona Marathon (run on the same course as the Kona Ironman Championship), with the always fun and challenging Volcano Runs just around the corner in July (featuring an altered course for the marathon and 10-miler...see website with the new course being posted in early May)!

Let's also not forget this Saturday marks the opening of the H.U.R.T. running season with the first run being the Top of Tantalus. Here's the rest of the running schedule!

Looking forward to another fun and competitive summer of running, cycling, swimming, triathloning, etc., not to mention the various race reports from all of our Ohana worldwide!

Have fun training & good luck in all you do!