This is our fourth year to be in Honolulu during the marathon. I spectated in 2013, ran in 2014, spectated again in 2015 (I did not write about it - blogger fail!) and DNSd this year. Les has been on the cycling team that escorts the wheelchair competitors each of these years and he loves it. The marathon starts at 5:00 a.m. and the wheelers go off at 4:55 so that meant a really early wake-up for Les. I was awake at 3:00 when he was getting ready and didn't go back to sleep once he left. I stood on our lanai and could hear activities at the start line about a mile away. It was calm and dry out, much different from 2014 when it rained the entire time!
I left our condo around 4:45 and headed away from the start line. I wanted to get to Diamond Head road to see the wheelers. Les said it would be the only time they would slow at all during the race because of the hill. I had my phone and was keeping an eye on their progress. I was still on Kalakaua Avenue when I heard whistles. The lead cyclists were coming, which meant the lead wheeler wasn't far behind. I cheered loud enough that Les saw me and I got a short blast from his whistle as they flew passed.
I found a great place to watch runners go by. The spectators were a big disappointment. I was the only one clapping and cheering! What is wrong with you people? Don't you know how hard this is? There was a big group waiting for a friend to come through and they weren't cheering for anyone else. I moved less than half a mile to another location that had great support.
Lead wheeler Soejima Masazumi from Japan with his cycling escorts came flying down Diamond Head road towards the finish line before the sun was up. This was his 4th consecutive Honolulu Marathon win and 10th total. He finished in 1:35:35, almost 10 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. Not a record, but still blazing fast!
Les' cycling team left once their final wheeler finished. Less than 30 minutes later Lawrence Cherono of Kenya set a new course record when he ran across the line in 2:09:37, more than a minute ahead his closest competitor.
I knew Les was ready for breakfast. The Honolulu Marathon does not have a cutoff time and the last person finished in 16:11:44, so I was not going to stay around for that! There is a good crowd that does, but I'm pretty sure they weren't up at 3:00 a.m. There were 20,235 finishers this year. It's crowded and messy!
So how did I feel not running this marathon? I had zero regret. Earlier in the week before the marathon I was a little sad that I wasn't running it, but as I watched the crowds I remembered how tough this marathon is. There is one mass start and the first miles are so crowded. It was going to be a hot one this year. I think because I get to the experience the race through Les it's still fun without all the pain. This isn't a course to get a marathon PR on. I could have only hoped for a course PR. But it wasn't in the plan this year and I'm okay with that. My running is still way off and I don't know what 2017 holds for me - I'm hoping to be healthier, that we will be at home more, and my next marathon will happen when the time is right.
