Honolulu Marathon
Sunday, December 9, 2001
After six months of training with the AIDS Marathon Training Program in San Francisco, I arrived in Honolulu for my very first marathon. This was the beautiful view from the window of my fabulous room in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Doesn't it look just like a picture postcard?
I got up at around 2:30 am to meet the rest of my group and catch the bus to the starting line. The race began at 5:00 am with fireworks. And we were off!
After running through downtown Waikiki, lit up with Christmas decorations, we ran through Kapiolani Park and then watched the day break as we headed up the hill along the side of Diamond Head.
One festive runner wore a Santa hat.
The day grew brighter as we circled around at about Mile 10.
Diamond Head was off to our left.
Then we headed toward town at about Mile 11. I kept getting my running partner Jesse's left side in my pictures as I'd slow down to snap a shot.
A couple of runners stop to adjust their shoes.
Diamond Head looms in the distance as we head back towards the finish line.
We run along the beach at about Mile 22.
It's uphill for a few miles, but we keep pushing on.
Finished! Tired but happy, I posed with my finisher's T-shirt.
With Diamond Head in the background, I posed for another photo with my running partner, Jesse (center), and another of our AIDS Marathoners (left).
My official time was 6:57:02. I placed 15,589th out of 19,217 total finishers. Not bad!