BIIM Race Report, Photos and More

Linden Villena of Hilo, a proud marathon finisher

   Marathon Maniac, Steve Pavao, gave me a link to an interesting blog by Laura Lang who gives a detailed discription of her experience running in the Big Island Internationa (Hilo) Marathon this past Sunday.  The following are excerts from Ms. Lang’s blog with the link to her site http://stretchinginheels.wordpress.com/

Aida Ferguson of Pahoa

What can I say about the Hilo Marathon? I can’t say enough, that’s what.  Not only was it one of my favorite marathons thus far in my running career, but it was also one of the BEST times I’ve EVER had in getting to know new friends in a different state.  This race/trip has been one of the most memorable I have and will have for a long time (well until I come back and run it again!).

At about 10 til 6 we all headed out to the start line.  There were only 500-600 runners at the start line (half and full marathoners combined) so it was a small field.  (We didn’t even have timing chips or a start line!)  At 6 a.m. we took off down the course.  The sun was just starting to light the sky as we came down the first hill and it was amazing.  The weather was perfect with a light breeze and no rain for the first few miles of the race.  From about mile 2-6 we ran on the 4-mile scenic route which wound along the coast through amazing greenery, waterfalls and picturesque views.  The sunrise was amazing coming through the trees and I am still in shock that I was even able to run through this beautiful landscape.

Yoko Hayano of Hilo

Miles 7-9 were about the same with beautiful views, waterfalls and the local Hilo surfers.  One of the best things happened around mile 8.  Trista and I both had to use the bathroom but there were none in sight and we came up on a woman handing out soda, chocolate and pretzels on her porch.  We asked her how far the nearest restroom was and she said “in my house!”  I thought she was kidding but she just let us run in and use her bathroom!  That’s what the true Aloha spirit is and how all the Hilo residents were… polite, friendly and giving!  After that we got back on the main highway and headed into town.  We wove around a few streets and around mile 12 Trista turned back to finish the half marathon course.  At this point I was on… my… own… yikes!

I was really worried about being on my own for the second half of the race.  I was scared to be the last person to finish and was worried that I wouldn’t be able to cut it.  Luckily I came around the first turn and passed one runner, then crossed over the highway and saw 10-20 more runners ahead of me.  (Yay! I wouldn’t be last!)  For this second half of the run I decided to try to run the whole thing.  During the first half Trista and I decided to run our normal 5-minute run, 1-minute walk formula.  But I’ve also been training to run the whole time and decided to try and run the remainder straight through.  The only time I would walk was if I needed to eat, walk through a water station to re-fill my bottle, or walk up a hill.  Other than that I just ran.  I started picking out runners I wanted to pass along the way.  Since I was running a negative split it was easy to keep up my pace around an 11:15 to 11:30 and pass people pretty easily.  I cruised along really well through mile 23 or so.  The heat was really tough when the rain stopped, but overall I tried to stay hydrated and focused so I could finish strong.  I did walk a small portion at the end because I had a horrible side stitch that wouldn’t go away.  ugh!   I finished with another marathon PR of 5:24:33… that’s an 11 minute PR over the SF Marathon in July 2009!!  🙂

Les Martisko of Pepeekeo

Overall, this was the best run.  I felt amazing, I PR’d again and I met some of the coolest, craziest and most fun runners ever.  I’m really excited to see where the SF Marathon takes me in my quest to continue improving my time.

And I’m even more excited to continue to rest here in Kona, Hawaii.  Ahhhh vacation.  🙂

To read the complete story please visit Laura Lang’s blog at:

http://stretchinginheels.wordpress.com/

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