2009 Great Aloha Run

Donna and Allen at the 2009 Great Aloha Race, Honolulu, Hawaii on February 16, 2009.

It was dark at 4:00AM when the alarm clock rang to start the day. Donna prepared the oatmeal with raisins and sunflower seeds to give us the fuel to finish the Great Aloha Race of 8.2 miles from the Aloha Tower to the football stadium. After our breakfast, we walked to the Sheraton Hotel to board the bus for the ride to downtown Honolulu and Bishop Street. As we arrived at our destination, there were many buses unloading, we joined hundreds of others walking to our starting line. First thing is to find the porta-potties; you do not want to waste time waiting in line during the race. The race is an hour away, we walk around a bit, stretch as much as we can, and watch the military units as they begin their lineup for the race. Their battle flags are waving conspicuously in the breeze as they pass yelling cadence. We gave them a big ovation, and yelled “hurrah, hurrah”.

It is getting closer to start time at 7:00AM, the crowd swells to 20,000 and we are crowded in the street like sardines. At this time, Donna and I are separated as I am running and she is walking. The runners line up near the front of the pack. Mufi Hannemann, the mayor of Honolulu, gave his welcoming speech, the national anthems were sung in English and Hawaiian, the gun goes off and we are on our way. The road splits after Chinatown, I opt for the one closest to the ocean. We run by Hilo Hattie’s warehouse still bunched up although a lot of folks are walking at that point. The first high school band is at the service station and blaring away, I can hear some of the music but my Ipod is louder. We pass Alakawa Street and the Costco turnoff, then Sand Island Road before heading to Nimitz Hiway and under the freeway. We pass Lagoon Street then the entrance to the airport. It is a little cooler with the freeway overhead but the concrete is very hard which makes your legs tire. Up ahead is the first water stop, more bands and the EMT unit, someone needs their help as the runner is sitting on the ground and the paramedics are looking after him.

Most everyone takes a cup of water to drink or pour over their heads. Cups and water are littered everywhere on the roadway, you have to be careful not to slip and fall. We have reached the four (4) mile mark here, time to line up at the potty station, it is very frustrating to be standing there and the time is ticking away.

The next portion of the race is out of the shade and the sun is hot on the freeway as we head up the hill which is a gradual incline but when running it appears to be quite an obstacle, I can look down and see the new Navy commissary and if I strain my eyes I can see the image of the stadium, however I know it is 4 miles down the road. By now, my tank top is totally drenched from perspiration and I am wiping my eyes with my paper towel to keep it from stinging my eyes.

After the commissary there is a slight downhill stretch which is welcomed and I am also hoping for some trade winds, cameras are stationed there to take pictures which are included here.

We head uphill again then down then up and arrive at the gate of the Pearl Harbor and Arizona Memorial, there is another water station and band music, at this point the legs are really heavy and the breathing is labored, gotta walk to catch my breath, just 2 more miles to go. I see the opening of the Salt Lake Blvd cutoff and the stadium is looming large up ahead, the military units have already finished and lined up at the fence line to cheer us on as we had cheered them.

We are at the 71/2 mile mark when arriving at the stadium, the run is another ½ mile or so to the tunnel and the finish line on the field, the last ½ mile is the absolute worse and I was very glad to finish. As you can see, I am not as perky as the fellow in the blue 30 or 40 years my junior.

Our reward was a t-shirt, banana, bottle of water and a package of Hostess mini-donuts.

I finished in 1 hour 38 minutes and placed 23/128 in my bracket of Men’s 70-74 and Donna finished in 2 hours 24 minutes for 143/323 in her age bracket. She bested her last year’s time by quite a bit. She looks as fresh at the finish as when she started.

The perennial question, why do we do this?