We spent 2 days on the
Big Island—which was not enough. In retrospect,
we should have saved Honolulu for another trip and spent more time playing
tourist on the Big Island. But I couldn’t resist and had tried to pack in as
much as we could. So I’m sad I didn’t
get to see Volcanic National park, especially the active lava flow but it was
still an amazing time.
Our plane landed in
the most charming airport I’ve ever been too.
It was the only time I’ve ever exited the plane outside, immediately
greeted by picturesque Hawaii. Instead
of a sterile, rambling building, the airport was scattered tables with palm
frond roofs and lots of greenery. We
quickly picked up our rental car and joined the team at dinner. I eagerly greeted past teammates, met the new
ones and showed off baby Z. We did a
quick trip to the store and spent the night at a nearby condo that one of my
friends had rented for the week.
Being van 2, we got to
sleep in and take our time in the morning.
Husband made us breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and macadamia nut
pancakes. Husband and baby stayed at the
condo to sleep, work and lounge while our van of runners headed to our first
exchange. I was runner 11 but had traded
my first leg since it had doubled in length since I signed up due to changes in
the race route. So one of my amazing
teammates saved me from a 8.5 uphill in strong headwinds and instead I got to
run a gorgeous, although very windy, 4.6 gentle downhill along the beach at
sunset. Husband and baby joined us for
dinner at a seafood restaurant and we took a quick nap before running
again. My second run around 3 am was wandering
4.8 miles along the beach under a crisp full moon with beautiful views. Again we napped and husband made us breakfast
at the condo again before we set out for our third legs. My third leg was a brutal 4.7 rolling flat
across black lava rock in 95 degrees weather at 3pm. The length and elevation weren’t so bad but it
was worse than sweaty hot. I’m pretty
sure my skin was melting.
At the finish line
party, we met up with the other van, as well as our other team who had been
trailing us by 10-20 minutes the whole race.
But in leg three, they caught up and ended up finishing 5 minutes ahead
of us. We waiting for our 12th
runner and ran it in across the finish line with him, including baby Z who immediately
donned my medal and tried to chew on it.
(such a happy little team mascot and was full of face-splitting,
contagious, beaming grins.) We took team photos, devoured pizza and fat boy ice
cream sandwiches, and enjoyed the gorgeous sunset. We didn’t get to stay long and soon Husband,
baby Z and I headed to the airport for the last leg of our adventure.
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