I began my fascination with Kona back in 1989, probably because I was too young to see or appreciate the Julie Moss ’82 crawl. Over my formative/adolescent years, I watched Welchy fly across the line and Peter Reid do some dominating. Post 9-11, I watched as Tim DeBoom finally won and carried a U.S. flag across the line first. My only problem is that in 2000, someone tried to give Tim a huge flag and in 2001, all he had was this ity-bity flag. This is a totally different discussion, as now I have digressed…I have been fascinated by the Kona run for a long time.

Part of this fascination is derived from that run down Alii to the finish, but also the run along Alii early in the race is part of the racing that I always wanted to experience. After a solid 5-6 hours of racing, you must run the marathon. The longer run on Alii comes just after the boring bike on the Queen K, thus the run is a sensory overload. On race day, people line the entire five miles from the pier to turtle beach. Smells come from food, beer, smoke (some of the funny smoke, too), and salt spray. You hear the cheering, music from radios, and locals beating drums or paint cans. The colorful foliage and array of fashion statements made by fans and locals alike make for interesting scenery and good people watching as you race.

Since I live for the run, I enjoyed watching this portion on the TV coverage. Now after four years of racing Kona, training in similar conditions the week prior to the race, and training this past week- I have one conclusion. It is the same run every day at noon on Alii. My runs around noon on Alii this past week have been very similar to race day. Granted there are no chalk markings and cheering for my swift pace. I do get catcalls and use it as a pick-me-up because I am lookin’ good, eh? In January, it is a touch cooler, but it is still a hot-humid run with the same colors, sounds, and smells. If this is the case, why might you ask, am I going to load this blog and do another identical run along Alii. Much like other run sites like the hills of world renown NYC Central Park or my personal fave run the paths of Sea Shore State Park in Virginia, when you watch it or you run it, you know that is what is meant to be done on that road or path- run!

I look forward to racing on Alii again, even watching it from afar on TV in taped coverage, but now I will go enjoy my run on Alii at noon.