Sunday November 7 2021
This 49th state was a case of third time, third island, lucky. I had the Maui Ocean Front half marathon booked…cancelled in reaction to COVID. Same with Kauai Sugar Mill Half (which was actually due to take place next weekend), but the good folks of Honolulu’s Running Room did stick to their guns, and came through to host the 808 Val Nolasco Half.
Who is Val Nolasco, you ask? Well, apparently Val Nolasco was a Hawaiian, who overcame heart disease and ran his first marathon in 1973. This Waikiki Diamond Head half-marathon was later named in his honour.
I took Friday off work and flew at 1100. Our flight was delayed – due to the vaccine mandate induced staff shortages and protests currently affecting many industries quite drastically. But let’s not talk about that – and hopefully it will all just go away.
It was a nine hour flight, So I watched a lot of films. There is also a six hour time difference between Charlotte and Honolulu, so it was around 1500 when we touched down on the sunny tarmac. All passengers had to navigate the Vaccine police on our way in, but with that completed, I ordered a Lyft and headed to the Air BnB via a packet pick up stop in the Running Room store itself. I grabbed the packet, and upon arrival at the Air BnB address, eventually realised it was a small apartment within the Waikiki Grand Hotel. I settled in and picked up some provisions from the ABC next door, before wandering along the coastline, and through the park, to figure out where the start line was for Sunday morning’s race (near the tennis courts).
It’s worth noting that everything I did this trip – entering the state, packet pick up, hotel check in, any museum or restaurant – EVERYTHING required you to present yourself papers to show you had been injected with the government mandated science.
Waikiki was beautifully sunny and warm but there were lots of homeless people, and plenty of the sort of people you would expect to see in tropical American beach towns.
I grabbed a delicious Hawaiian pineapple cheese burger meal from the burger bar connected to the hotel ground floor, and ate that in my room whilst watching some serial killer documentaries on the Netflix account someone had left logged in to the TV.
My room was comfy enough but unbelievably noisy. The AC was incredibly loud when running and went on/off all the time as the temperature fluctuated. The room was first floor, too (UK first floor), and on the corner of a busy street opposite a park full of tramps, so very susceptible to the not inconsiderable outside noise. The apartment front door was also about 15 feet from a busy bar – that stayed open until 2am…
Saturday morning, I woke up early and went out on the beach to watch the sun come up whilst walking along the shore. I found The Waikiki Wave hotel (now closed) – where I had stayed with friends when I last visited, and checked out Duke’s Alley – a famous surfboard lock up location, recently the unfathomable victim of a serial surfboard arsonist.
I took a Lyft (with fascinating local historian driver) to Iolani palace and took a self guided tour around this former palace of the Hawaiian Royal Family – before they were deposed by local greedy business men with the help of the US government. Classic.
I grabbed a light lunch (Hawaiian chicken quesadilla) eating at Lulu’s Waikiki sports bar on the corner, and picked up my beach stuff to head for some sunbathing and swimming in the sea. I did that for a few hours, reading some of my Erich Von Daniken book about ancient aliens, and enjoying the beach. Then I relaxed back in the room before prepping for the race tomorrow, and grabbing another Hawaiian burger from the hotel-connected grill – Teddy’s Bigger Burger. There was an anti government / anti Biden / anti vaccine mandate rally going on across the street, so that was nice, and another noisy night of terrible sleep ensued.
I got up around 0415, got ready and headed to the race. It was very hot and humid, even at that hour, so I could see why the race was starting under cover of darkness. It was a tough slog, with about 400’ of climb, and my 1.32.38 time (7.07 per mile) was really about as much as I could muster. I was 29th overall and 8th in my age group, so not a great result, but it was hard. Although not logging serious miles after Chicago, I had felt good in the 7-10 days leading up to the trip, so it was all a bit disappointing, but it really wasn’t the course for me. Hot, hilly, hard and heavy. Maybe the bad sleep didn’t help either.
There were some very strong runners out there, the race and course itself was very well organised and marshaled – so any fears of the event being at all pokey were absolutely unfounded – and at the end, I rested on a rock near the bandstand water feature as a caught my breath, before wandering back to the hotel for a shower. I got myself organised, and left my luggage at the front desk before heading out again.
I explored the disintegrating WWI Memorial Lido Natatorium, the Waikiki aquarium, and grabbed a light Hawaiian beef teriyaki plate as lunch at the corner bar, Lulu’s.
Then I grabbed my luggage and traveled by Lyft to the Bishop Museum, where I spent a couple of hours exploring exhibits centred around Hawaiian and Polynesian Island culture and history.
Then I got another Lyft to the airport, failed in my attempt to upgrade to first class using some bonus upgrade things I had on my AAdvantage account, but ended up with a triple seat to myself anyway.
We landed in Charlotte around 0700 and I headed home for a shower so I could get straight to work, after probably the best night’s sleep of the three.
Racing Americana 