Maui Marathon

Maui - October 11-14

October 11, 2018

This should have happened earlier, but I didn't really think of it at all. My family joined me on this quest to do marathon #11. Previously, on the outer islands, I've done the Hilo and Kauai Marathons solo and didn't really think of my family joining me, but I should have. Hindsight is 20/20.

Initially it was supposed to be Michelle and I. I found a package online which included air, hotel, & car for about $800 + the hotel fee $150. After about 1 month of thinking about it, I decided to have the kids come along. I used 30,000 Hawaiian Airline Miles and it only cost me $20. SWEET! I thought to myself, I have an extra $350 to blow on the trip.

My mom who is such a big help dropped us off at the airport and would be watching Kiwi for the 4 days while we were gone. We landed in Maui at 9:30am, it was extremely humid. After picking up the rental car, we immediately drove on Hana to the Red Sand Beach...

The drive back was long. Malia was sick because of all the twist and turns. We checked in the hotel and needed a 30 minute break before going back out again. Michelle looked up a good place to eat in Lahaina called Cool Cat Cafe. This place was voted best burger in Maui. The burgers were good, although I just ate a salad (I just took a bite of Michelle's burger), but the fries were amazing. The atmosphere is loud and it is hard to find this place tucked away in some shopping place, but it is worth it. The prices weren't too bad either.

Ali'i Kula Lavender farm - October 12, 2018

Ulupalakua Ranch - October 12, 2018

Makawao

We needed time to kill before going to the Surfin' Goat Dairy. I always wanted to go to Makawao. When I was a little boy there was a song by Willie K called Katchi Katchi Music Makawao. I didn't give much thought to the song, but going to Makawao made me think of that song. Another thing, I always wondered why Makawao was a Paniolo Town? When we went to the Historic Store, my questions were answered by this nice lady. I did a more in depth write up of Makawao.

Surfin' Goat Dairy

This would be the highlight of our day. After Makawao we came here a bit early. We had to wait for quite some time and the communication was terrible. For example, we didn't know where to report. When ask, the lady gave bad attitude. Its like WTF, you are having a bad day so you have to put that on all the customers who pay big bucks. Putting that aside, this place won a national award for top goat cheese in 2004-2006. They have a solid national reputation. Everything here is quite expensive though, but the quality is top notch for goat cheese. At 3:30p, our tour started. The young lady was quite knowledgeable. She knew her facts. We started by feeding the goats. She said it is buck mating season and that one buck can mate with 90 bucks a day if he wanted to. I also learned that goats hate water, so if I was ever in the Waianaes and was attacked by a goat I would spit water on it and the goat would run away. The tour was called Evening Chores where we would feed the goats, milk them, and then eat the cheese. The goats were hungry and feeding them was a chore. Since we were the only group, we had this big basket of hay to feed the goats. It was tiring because we were trying to be fair in what we offered to the goats, instead of dumping the basket on the ground and letting them go for a free for all. I thought feeding the goats would be dangerous, just like feeding a dog. Those sharp teeth can hurt you. But goats don't have upper teeth and their bottom teeth aren't too sharp, however, if they suck on your finger, their back teeth are really sharp. I was careful not to let them suck my finger whole. I think Malia got bit though.

Now to the fun part, milking the goats. The lady lined them up and taught us the technique of holding the teeth which is like the nipple. The goats don't like to be milked, they seemed irritated, but can tolerated it because they are fed granola. Squeezing the teeth was hard and needed some strong hands. I can't imagine people trying to milk goats, it would take all day for such a small amount. After our attempt to milk the goats, the lady hooked them up to the pump. With the pump, it was a quick couple minutes and milking the goats was done. The advent of technology.

The final part of the tour was trying the goat cheeses. The lady said it was a 16 hour aging process. Fresh goat cheese is amazing. She even said that some of their cheese can last months if properly stored.

This was a great experience. It was worth the $100. We tipped her $10 for being such a good tour guide.

Packet Pick Up - October 13, 2018

Packet pick up was in the morning at the Westin Maui. We parked at Whalers Village. The mall was similar to Ala Moana, open, inviting, & overpriced. Westin Maui Hotel was adjacent to the mall. The expo was packed. With little volunteers, it took a long time to get the packet, pick up our shirts, & buy stuff. While waiting, I struck a conversation with a Maui resident who has done the marathon before. I asked him what obstacles will I face? He mentioned the sun, which I kind of knew while scouting the route the last two days, but he said the head wind is bad and swirls. Great advice, I thought. Michelle bought me gels, so I was prepped.

Escape Room

We walked back to Whalers Village for our Escape Room appointment at 11a. I booked online a few days ago for $134. There were 4 escape rooms, we chose the Ka Puna Bunker. The guy set the scene, we aimlessly walked into a bunker and the door shut, we had 60 minutes to get out before the bomb goes off. We only had 3 chances to call in for clues, but on the monitor would be more clues if we started having difficulties. We spent quite some time on the first obvious locked box which had a directional lock. It was obvious that it was a very difficult puzzle to solve. That wasted about 5 minutes. We had to move on. Malia found a key and I found a suitcase. That opened, which led to a key and another suitcase. However with all that momentum, we got stuck at the damn directional lock. We needed to use a clue and needed help from the staff to get that open. Jared figured it out, it was hard - like 4 steps to solve it. We worked together to do the uniform clue, light pattern clue, which led to a secret door. I tried to figure out the numbers to the morse code box, eventually Michelle and Jared figured out the numbers to the morse code box, but we didn't know what that meant and what for. A clue was posted to guide us. The last clue was to figure out the math problem which I had to go inside the secret room that had a calculator. It was a hard puzzle, but super fun and I would do their rooms again.

October 14, 2018

Marathon Day. I woke up at 2:00am and got ready. I ate two cliff bars and drank my coffee. I woke up Michelle and Jared woke up at the same time at 3:15am. We took the 1 hour drive from Paki Maui Hotel in Lahaina to Kahalui. Michelle dropped me off in an industrial area by the Kahalui Walmart. There were maybe about 500 doing the marathon. I was wondering why so much people had head lamps. It was pitch dark with the exception of some high powered lights. The MC was saying some inspirational stuff like, "enjoy the journey today, you trained so hard", "this is your moment". Mayor Arakawa advised everyone to stay safe and don't over do it. Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom sang the National Anthem and Hawaii Pono'i. The crowd was somber and lacked energy. I get it, showing up at this industrial place near Walmart at 5am is not spectacular. The race started on time and we were off. I noticed right away that it was pitch black no street lights. Footing was a little problem because I couldn't see where I was stepping. The only light was oncoming cars heading towards us at 50 mph. It was coned off so that was good. There was a cool breeze which was a good sign. Will see when the sun comes up what I would have to deal with. No one cheering, no lights, just the sound of cars and footsteps of runners. I can't remember what mile it was, but we turned left on Honoapiilani Hwy and started heading towards the ups and downs. I thought there was only one hill, it was more like 3 or 4 hills which wasn't too bad for me, but it was a surprise, even though I drove on this road about 5 times the previous days.

The sun came out in full force at mile 13. By mile 17, I started to slow down which affected my pace. I still kept a 10:15 min pace even with the water breaks and felt that I could PR. But that dream was still a dream as my pace slowed down at mile 17. I started going slower and the heat got to me. No shade on Honoapiilani Hwy and it took its toll, mile after mile my pace slowed and I started walking/running. I was dying! It was really hot. The group I was running with was struggling too. They were walk/running and we kept on passing each other for about 5 miles. Eventually we got to the bypass which offered some trees and I even got a spark of energy. However, that was short lived as Honoapiilani Hwy. got back to its unshaded highway which was a bitch. I managed to walk/run a 13 minute mile to near the end. I thought to myself, I need a boost.

I was almost done, this guy in a mustang convertible said, "run! you are almost done". So like Forest Gump, I was running. As I neared the finished I waived high to Michelle, Malia, and Jared as the announcer called my name. Finishing a marathon is such a great feeling. It is, one of the most humbling experience in a persons life. I think everyone has to do it once just to feel that accomplishment. I finished at 5:02:28. Out of my 11 marathons, this ranks 5th, not too shabby.