Race Results!

First, I was afraid that the severe weather we've had lately would cause me to follow up on my evil idea from yesterday - just keep shirt and not actually do the walk... Last night shortly before going to bed for my abbreviated sleep, we were still having monsoon conditions.

But when I got up at 1:30, all was quiet outside, so I put on my walking outfit and took off for Honolulu. It was a very pleasant drive at that time of night! I successfully navigated to the point where the info sheet had said to park, near the zoo.

Except the road was blocked coming from the north. No big deal, I thought, I'll just go around the block and come in from the other side. The other side was blocked, too, so I rolled down my window and shouted questions to the policeman. "We're supposed to park there. The info sheet says so," I said, waving it about.

"I can't let you up that street. That's where the buses pick up."

"I know. That's why the info sheet says to park there."

"I don't have any information on that," says the man in the uniform. "I can't let you up there."

The marathon organizers are getting a letter, I think, as I try to figure out what to do next. Somehow I end up on this side street that has a small parking lot. The sign at the entrance doesn't seem to have any restrictions, so with some misgivings, I park the car, lock it, and walk away wondering if I'll ever see it again. I'm just a short walk from the bus pickup point, though.

It's just after 3am at this point, so there's no line for the bus either. No nice luxurious tourist buses, though, just schoolbuses. As it takes us through the streets of Waikiki, lots of people are walking towards the start line, near the Ala Moana Beach Park and the mall.

The bus drops us in the beach park, nowhere really near the start, so I walk across the grass heading towards the street. Large groups of Japanese people are being led through some stretches and exercises, but it strikes me as a bit early for that.

I already have 20 min of walk time on my pedometer, and now it's about 3:40am. Near the start is a stone wall that's just the right height for me to sit on. I'm dreading the tedium of the next hour and a half.

At this start line are several people holding tall poles with flags that say "Race Day Walk," so that's how I know I'm in the right spot. One of the officials says to those of us sitting on the wall, "Get in line, get in line."

"We're supposed to just stand in line for an hour and a half?" I ask. Well, I don't really ask. There's a strong note of challenge and skepticism in my voice.

"You need to warm up your legs anyway," he says.

"Standing doesn't warm up your legs," I replied.

"I'm just trying to make things easier for everybody," he says, implying that I'm not helping. Well, I'm not standing up for 90 minutes. Walking, no problem. Standing is much harder. But that's the end of our conversation. I pass the time by watching the people coming through our group to line further up for the marathon.

There were a few people in costume. One guy was in a Yoda outfit, complete with light saber and a Christmas hat on his Yoda head. A couple of Japanese girls had grass skirts and coconut bras over their running clothes. Most people were fairly skinny, but a few had some bellies on 'em. Many of the walkers were wearing the shirts they'd given us yesterday.

The wheelchair runners got a police motorcycle escort through the crowd, and we all applauded as they came through. Our area slowly filled up, and the guy tried to get us all to stand up again. I still didn't get the point of that.

Just before five, the opening ceremony began. Someone sang the national anthem. I sang along, the only American voice in the crowd. I didn't think anyone was paying attention, but several people turned around at the end. One Japanese lady said, "nice, nice, nice." The mayor said a few words. The Japanese translator was louder than the other speakers, so our guests heard what was said, but I couldn't make out most of it. Then they set off fireworks, which was a great way to start.

The running crowd looked to be around 31,000 people (that's the highest bib number I saw - though the paper said 23,000 were expected to actually start), and we were close to 6,000. Getting that many runners through the start line (so the chip in their shoe registers their start time) takes a while. The folks holding the flags would take us up a few feet forward at a time. Alas, we didn't merit chips, so it didn't really matter how we crossed the start line, but the officials wanted all the runners through first.

Since I was at the front of the walkers, I pretty quickly was mingling with the last of the runners. The runners are supposed to line up based on their projected finish time, so the slower ones are at the back, and some of them walk the first couple of miles, or walk the whole course.

My main thought at that time was "where are the porty potties along the route." My one comfort stop earlier in the morning had worn off. An Irish bar, bless its heart, was open very early and allowing us to use the facilities. We'll have to go back and eat there sometime...

It was very pretty walking along Honolulu's streets in the dark like that. I was glad to get the chance to see some of the Christmas displays. A lot of the Japanese were stopping to take their pictures with the various displays and formations of lights.

Since we didn't have an official timer, I was using the one on my watch. They had placed kilometer and mile markers along the route, so at 5km, I was pleased to see I'd been on the road about 55 minutes, which included my bathroom break.

But sometime between mile 3 and mile 4, my left hip started to act up, and I shortened my stride to try to make it better. No longer was I passing people, but was one of the ones being passed. I kept telling myself finishing this first one was the goal.

But after mile 4, it was down to a dull ache and I was back into a comfortable rhythm. My right knee, the one with the ruptured ligament, was fine the whole time. It rained off and on, sometimes just a refreshing sprinkle and occasionally a healthy downpour. I'd grabbed a trash bag from the house before taking off and put a hole in it for my head, and had that around my shoulders. Next time, I thought, grab the lawn/leaf size rather than the kitchen size...

Along the way, we passed a couple of water stations where they passed out cups of water. Apparently the custom at these things is to toss the cup on the ground and the volunteers sweep and shovel them up, but it went against the grain to do so! The second cup I got, I just held onto it until I saw a trash can.

Never did see those oatmeal cookies the paper mentioned...

Our walking finish line was just beyond Waikiki, so we could see the ocean for the last half mile or so. There were also people on the sidewalks shouting encouragement. Most of those were Japanese, but there were a few Americans. One lady was holding an umbrella, yelling nice things and offering high fives.

Some felt compelled to yell back, "we're just the walkers," but I figured we're participants in this event, and if she wants to holler for us, fine with me, so I high-fived her as I went by. Another women held a sign, "You're all winners today." All of those were a welcome distraction from the dull pain in my hip.

At last, I could see the finish line! I looked down at my watch and it showed a time of 1:53. I was very pleased to see that, all things considered. When I did the 10K Volksmarches in Germany, seemed like those took 2-2.5 hrs, but we were usually going up and down on uneven terrain, and this had been a flat walk on asphalt. I figure it was more like 1:55 when I finally crossed it. There were lots of photographers there and I tried to give my best finisher smile. I suspect I'll get word there's a website where I can look up my number and buy my picture...

We did actually get a certificate for finishing, and a palmetto-shaped plastic fan. I believe the marathoners get a cert with their name and time, but ours just said, "Finisher." I stood in line for the restroom first and wandered around the park looking at the tents. Most were set up by Japanese companies or clubs, and there were also tents for the marathon finishers, and places to get their "finisher" shirts. I tried to get close to their finish line to cheer on the ones coming in, but it was blocked off. I could see a couple of finishers at the showers just beyond the finish line, and we cheered for them. They were still on their feet, but looked pretty tired.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still had some energy left, which was good since I was going to need it to get to the car and then drive home! I stopped at a little store for a Coke Zero. No more of that water stuff for me! It tasted great.

Other results - the overall and men's winner (from Kenya) finished at 2:14:35. The women's top finisher (Japanese) was 2:32:36. One of the more impressive finishes for me was in the women's 80-84 age division. The winner finished in 4:49:45. And she's 81. She was 1,387 overall.

And Gladys - did she break the record?

Well, it doesn't look like it. According to the race results, she hasn't finished yet, and it's over 9 hrs, 20 minutes. But I hope she finishes and comes back next year...