2005 Honolulu Marathon

December 11, 2005

1) Shannon Ishikawa - 1st Marathon 6:32 2) Me - 6th Marathon - 7:10 3) Nancy Kikuchi - 1st Marathon - 6:58 4) Laura Gusukumo-Minuto - 1st Marathon 6:32 5) Ruiko Kusumoto - 1st Marathon - 6:32 6) Steve Miller - 3rd Marathon, 6:58	1) Dale Hoffman 19th Marathon (2nd walking) - 7:14 2) Emi Yoneda - 1st Marathon - 8:31 3) Jim Metz - 5th Marathon - 8:31
A map of the day's walking, from home at 4:05 AM to the spot where Mitch picked me up on Kuhio at about 12:45 PM.

This year, when I stepped up to the starting line, I thought to myself, "this is going to hurt". In 2002 I walked 40 miles per week for 4 months to prepare, in 2003, 30 miles per week, last year, 20 miles per week, this year... well, this year, there were 20 mile weeks. Let's just say that. I knew I was soft, and I knew I would finish. As it turns out, the knowledge that I could do it was vexing me at about mile 22, since if I hadn't known that I could do it, I might have felt justified in quitting. But when you cross the finish line, then you want to go again...

It's not just me, either. Some of those people in the pictures above are quite sane, apparently. They have jobs, and families, and drive automobiles. It's useful for us moderns to discover that the next thing after "pretty tired" is not "dead". The Marathon can show you this, and many other things. After "pretty tired", there's "tired", "darned tired", "very tired", "very very tired", "bone tired", "#$@! tired", and etc. There's a whole lot of marathon after "pretty tired".

The first-place runner, Jimmy Muindi, took a minute longer this year. This year it was warmer, by my reckoning, and I've heard quite a few finishers say "I didn't do as well as I had planned." All in all, though, it was a pretty good day. Today's Honolulu Advertiser story says that 24,643 crossed the starting line, and 24,261 crossed the finish line, which makes us 98.45% winners. There aren't any losers in the world's largest and longest fun run, no competition after the top 10, except with one's self. Sure, I harbor a little kernel of joy when others tell me their finishing times and mine's shorter (it doesn't happen that often), but still, I want everyone to finish. I want everybody to get their t-shirt. And they all want me to get my t-shirt, too. The vibe of the Honolulu Marathon is: "everybody wins".

Below, click on the picture to see the larger version, click on the

to see where I was when the picture was taken.

guntime: -0:36:58 speed: 2.81 mph