When our daughter, Tiffany mentioned that her very good friend and racing partner, not to mention KC's wonderful surrogate "Auntie Jane" was coming to Hawaii we could not be more excited. Jane inspired Tif to take up running and is the "auntie" who has generously given time and luxurious experiences to KC.
Jane has a very rigorous work schedule, but was taking time to attend a friend's destination wedding here on Oahu.
We insisted she stay with us for at least the first couple of days. We hoped she'd spend the entire time with us but she needed to be at the resort for her friend's wedding.
When Jane discovered that the Great Aloha Run would be on the same day as the wedding, she decided she had to try running it.
Coincidentally, February has been a month full of visitors.
First we had our friends Mike and Jean from California (this will be in a later post) and then KC sent us Flat Stanley from Chicago and now we also had Jane.
On the above photo you can see both Jane and Flat Stanley. (You can check out this link to learn what it's all about.)
On Monday, Presidents Day we got up at 3:30 (perhaps it helped Jane to be on Chicago time) and drove to the Aloha Stadium. The Great Aloha Run is an 8.15 mile charity race from the Aloha Tower in Honolulu to the Aloha Stadium. The military lined up and were first to start the run. 20,000 runners and walkers would follow.
Jane joined the runners closer to the starting gate. We would be meeting her at Aloha Stadium at the end of the race.
Along the route we saw some fun costumes. There were some guys dressed as super heroes and this woman had a truly original costume.
She wore a face mask with the Aloha Tower and her backside had the Aloha Stadium.
These fire fighters were kind enough to pose with Flat Stanley and flashed us a Shaka greeting for KC.
It was so much fun to hear this friendly officer who was ensuring public safety say, "Oh yes! I've definitely heard of Flat Stanley."
We were surprised to see this boat which was apparently a living space for a homeless person on the canal.
I actually like walking under the viaduct because it's shaded and level ground.
I was extremely happy to see the 4 mile marker!!! Flat Stanley was happy too.
A lot of people recognized Flat Stanley and one lady even stopped us and wanted to take his photo.
Everybody was happy to have their photo taken with Flat Stanley.
School bands played along the way to cheer us on.
And yes... FINALLY... we were at the FINISH line! I can't begin to tell you how happy I was. Did you notice that Flat Stanley has a racing bib on? Tif asked if I could make him one.
We quickly met up with Jane and collected our GAR Finisher t-shirts.
We then grabbed a quick lunch and went home so that Jane could shower and prepare for the wedding in which she would be participating in a couple of hours.
HOWEVER, before we drove her to Ko' Olina where the wedding was being held, we did stop at Mountain Magic for some wonderful shave ice.
We did need to replenish the fluids and calories we lost in the morning, after all.
Well... that was our excuse anyway.
As for Art and me...
We went home and took a nap!
Now the fun part. Here are my racing times:
Last year my time was 2:35:55.
This year, it was 2:35.25!
Imagine that! I came in 30 seconds faster than last year!
We insisted she stay with us for at least the first couple of days. We hoped she'd spend the entire time with us but she needed to be at the resort for her friend's wedding.
When Jane discovered that the Great Aloha Run would be on the same day as the wedding, she decided she had to try running it.
Coincidentally, February has been a month full of visitors.
First we had our friends Mike and Jean from California (this will be in a later post) and then KC sent us Flat Stanley from Chicago and now we also had Jane.
On the above photo you can see both Jane and Flat Stanley. (You can check out this link to learn what it's all about.)
On Monday, Presidents Day we got up at 3:30 (perhaps it helped Jane to be on Chicago time) and drove to the Aloha Stadium. The Great Aloha Run is an 8.15 mile charity race from the Aloha Tower in Honolulu to the Aloha Stadium. The military lined up and were first to start the run. 20,000 runners and walkers would follow.
Jane joined the runners closer to the starting gate. We would be meeting her at Aloha Stadium at the end of the race.
Along the route we saw some fun costumes. There were some guys dressed as super heroes and this woman had a truly original costume.
She wore a face mask with the Aloha Tower and her backside had the Aloha Stadium.
These fire fighters were kind enough to pose with Flat Stanley and flashed us a Shaka greeting for KC.
It was so much fun to hear this friendly officer who was ensuring public safety say, "Oh yes! I've definitely heard of Flat Stanley."
We were surprised to see this boat which was apparently a living space for a homeless person on the canal.
I actually like walking under the viaduct because it's shaded and level ground.
I was extremely happy to see the 4 mile marker!!! Flat Stanley was happy too.
A lot of people recognized Flat Stanley and one lady even stopped us and wanted to take his photo.
Everybody was happy to have their photo taken with Flat Stanley.
School bands played along the way to cheer us on.
And yes... FINALLY... we were at the FINISH line! I can't begin to tell you how happy I was. Did you notice that Flat Stanley has a racing bib on? Tif asked if I could make him one.
We quickly met up with Jane and collected our GAR Finisher t-shirts.
We then grabbed a quick lunch and went home so that Jane could shower and prepare for the wedding in which she would be participating in a couple of hours.
HOWEVER, before we drove her to Ko' Olina where the wedding was being held, we did stop at Mountain Magic for some wonderful shave ice.
We did need to replenish the fluids and calories we lost in the morning, after all.
Well... that was our excuse anyway.
As for Art and me...
We went home and took a nap!
Now the fun part. Here are my racing times:
Last year my time was 2:35:55.
This year, it was 2:35.25!
Imagine that! I came in 30 seconds faster than last year!
Congrats for finishing and for the improved time.
ReplyDeleteThat shave ice looks awesome.
Your blog was the first to come up this morning, my first back home after my own adventure. I am impressed that Flat Stanley had his own racing bib! Congratulations on bettering your time, Kay. I would love to do this one myself. :-)
ReplyDeletegood for you all!! What a fun time you all had and thats so sweet everyone knows Flat Stanley!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference half a minute makes (in one's morale)! Congratulations, once again.
ReplyDeleteAnd good on ya, Jane, for doing so much in one day.
amazing, what stamina!
ReplyDeleteKay, it occurred to me that you might finish even faster if you didn't take pictures along the way? Good for you. We had Flat Stanley for our granddaughter one year and had to take him all over for pictures as you have done.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the faster time. It was probably Flat Stanley cheering you on that made you walk faster. Did you know, there is a Flat Stanley app for your phone? I used it a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteI love Flat Stanley.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for the improved time! That is so great. The whole event looks like a fun time for all.
You two are so wonderful. :)
ReplyDeletelol, talk about an improvement! So great you could spend time with Jane too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great event. And people like you make it special.
ReplyDeleteJanis
GDP
Well done, Kay, and Art, and Jane, and Flat Stanley!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing the race, bettering your time and that was even carrying Flat Stanley and finding folks to pose with him.
ReplyDeleteI remember Flat Stanley
ReplyDeleteFun races get a lot of participation. As for your time you know that older gets better. I can't wait for your time next year.
ReplyDeleteAw congratulations!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3
Congratulations to all of you. This looks like a very fun event. And your speed improved! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteSo impressed with you all. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 30 second gain! Flat Stanley reminds me of the time we kept our grandson's two teddy bears. His mother was having a terrible time separating him from them and so we agreed to let them visit us and we took them on all our trips and sent stories and pictures to our grandson of the adventures. By the time they were returned to him, he was ready to set them aside.
ReplyDeleteYou are simply amazing!
ReplyDelete