Hapalua Half Marathon #2 Monsoon

Gosh!  I hate waking up at 3:15 in the morning.  But we did.  We picked up my brother, Dennis at 4:30 and headed out to Waikiki for the 2nd Annual Hapalua (Half Marathon).  Art thought it would be safer to have Dennis with me since we'd be there before the sun rose.  I'm so grateful I have my brother to help me and my sister-in-law for sharing him on one of her rare weekend days off from work.

Last year, Jon ran this race with Art.  This year Art would run it alone.  Our children Jon and Tiffany will be running in their own Half Marathon in Washington, D.C. next week.

We parked at the Honolulu Zoo (which is in Waikiki) a little before 5:00.  By around 5:15, the lot was full.  It had stormed furiously during the night and we were glad the rain appeared to have stopped.

"Let's bring umbrellas", I said.

"You just need one", said my optimistic brother.  "I doubt it'll rain anymore."

We passed Port-a-Potties with already long lines.

We walked toward the starting gate around 5:30.  Art had given us detailed notes on what time and where he would be during the course of the race.  We knew he would be passing the starting gate area around 7:28 which would be about the half way mark before heading up Diamond Head and then the finish line around 8:23.

We wished Art good luck as the race was starting.

Our kids texted their encouragement from Chicago and Baltimore.

Hawaii's elite runners ran first.  They had an earlier race start handicap.  This is called a Chase.  Almost half an hour later the super fast Kenyan runners would "chase" them to the finish line.

Just as the Hawaiian blessing was given and the Star Spangled Banner and our state song, Hawaii Ponoi were sung, it started to rain.  The race coordinator joked that the rain was a Hawaiian blessing.

And then it poured!  Deluged! Cats and dogged! Cloudburst! Drenched!  Torrential!  It was unbelievable!  We've never been in a race where the skies just opened up and let loose like this.

Dennis and I stood under a store awning on Kalaukaua Avenue waiting for the rain to abate when I realized my feet were getting wet.  Good grief!  The storm sewers were backing up.  I hate to complain because Art was running past us without an umbrella, but sheesh!

Art had planned for Dennis and me to wait comfortably at a restaurant and grab a breakfast while he ran the first half of the race, but it was raining so much that we decided to wait there for a little more than an hour when he'd be passing us again so I could take some photos.

I got to cheer for some runners and clapped my encouragement.  It felt a little odd because there was only one other person who was out in the rain making noise.  Still, it was nice to see runners suddenly grin or wave their appreciation.

Oops!  This wasn't Art. Just kidding.

And then, there he was, close to the time he predicted. He's flashing his LOVE hand signal for our granddaughter, KC.

It was hard to get a great photo of Art as he whizzed by.

And then he was gone, heading toward Diamond Head.

When the rain became a drizzle, Dennis and I went back to the car to wait out the weather.

At about 8:00 we decided to walk toward the Kapiolani Park finish line since we were expecting Art around 8:23. 

Oops!  Art miscalculated!  He came in earlier than expected.  As I was jockeying for a good place to stand to take the photo, there he was!  Doggone it!  I almost missed him.

The rain started to fall even harder so we decided to just head home instead of staying for any of the after race treats.

I was concerned when Art told me that he'd gotten a nosebleed running up Diamond Head.  I've never known him to get one before.

Surprisingly, Art's race time was a mere 44 seconds slower than last year despite the fact that he was carrying extra weight from his drenched shirt, shorts, shoes and hat.  He came in #10 out of 27 runners in his 65 to 69 age group.

The drive home showed us that the Hawaiian monsoon was all over the island.

Well, that's another Hapalua done.  I'm sure he's planning to do a 3rd one, rain or shine.