More Hawaii Pics

The day of reckoning, race day, 3:00 AM for our photo opportunity as a group, the Edmond Family Center for Autism group..."TeamAutism". From left to right Cristy, Phil, Angel, Stacey, Alan, Randy, Steve. We were pumped and excited, little did we know that a scant two hours later we would all look like drowned rats.

Stacey was our first runner across the finish line in under 5 hours 30 minutes, hats off to her effort. I ran with her for 11 or so miles before I began to fade with my knee issues and we agreed we should both run our own race at that point, she was a great organizer for our trip and coach to those that had never run a marathon before, she ROCKS!!! That is Taylor with her after the finish line. Bonnie stayed with Taylor while Stacey and Alan were on the course, when she suggested they head to the finish line to see everyone run to the finish he got upset and said there was no way he could run a race that far. He thought she meant they were going to run the 26.2 miles to the finish. When she got him convinced they wouldn't have to do that he then thought it would be cheating to just "show up" at the finish and again didn't want to be seen as a cheater. More explaining but he was there when it counted for us. We are all so proud of him for making the trip with us and being so upbeat all the time....he's truly an inspiration!!

Yours truly after the finish line, tired, sore, and yes in some pain due to my left knee at that time. After crossing the finish line we got a "lei" of seashells and then had to walk thru water, mud, and muck for another 1/4 mile to get our finisher's medal and t-shirt. That was the worst part of the day.

I had told Bonnie before the race that if we finished close enough to the beach that I was going to give her my shoes and I was going into the Pacific in lieu of an ice bath. The water wasn't as cold as ice water would have been but the wave motion on my legs and feet felt really good. That is Taylor in the foreground with me.

This is Alan one of our walkers and the last of the EFCA participants to cross the finish line. Bonnie was our sideline cheerleader and photographer and she watched over Taylor while his Mom, Stacey, and Dad, Alan were on the course. Again we had some explaining to do with Taylor to convince him it was ok for him to walk with his Dad and that it would excite Alan to see him coming out to meet him. What a wonderful supporter Taylor made for each of us.

Here's one of those famous Hawaiian sunsets as seen from the balcony of our room, the sky sure lit up that evening when that big fireballs slipped into the ocean.

LUAU PHOTOS

Monday night after the race on Sunday we were treated to a wonderful Hawaiian Luau on the north shore of Oahu. Here is Bonnie and I at the hotel just before we left on the tour bus with our group. Keep that purple dress in mind as it will show up in an unlikely photo in just a bit.

Oh my, here it is already, Bonnie learning to do the Hula Dance. You should see her instructor, no wonder she is smiling so big....he's in another photo just a bit later too. The ladies on the stage did a great job and had a lot of fun with this part of the festivities. We had Hawaiian pig that had been roasted in a covered fire pit, and several other Hawaiian vegetables that we could sample thru their buffet line when we ate.

The theme thru the dancing portion of the luau was based on the Christmas Holidays and it was exciting to see the different island cultures that were represented during each of the different dances.

More of the dancers in various Christmas dress. Even with the Christmas theme, the things you would expect at a luau were never far away, the grass skirts, the dark tan, the festive atmosphere.

Here is Bonnie's hula dance instructor, she said the eye candy made it very easy for her to follow his instructions as he stood just off the camera showing her and the other ladies how to do each of the various steps associated with the hula.

OUR LAST DAY

On Tuesday as we waited around the hotel for our evening ride to the airport, we were fortunate enough to meet Eric Mzioki, third place runner from Kenya, and Boniface Mbuvi, fourth place runner also from Kenya, near the hotel hot tub. It was a bit difficult communicating with them, but they very much understood a photo opportunity.

Then to top things off about an hour later we had the good fortune to meet the winner of this years Honolulu Marathon, Ambesse Tolosa from Ethiopia. Ambesse was a bit easier to chat with and also had an intrepretor with him. He was also the winner of the Honolulu Marathon in 2006. It was very exciting to spend a few minutes with him and to realize that he was every bit as tired as we were.

This is Diamondhead taken from the beach in front of our hotel. The marathon took us thru the street in front of our hotel, paralleling the coast and then eventually up over the right hand shoulder of Diamondhead that can be seen on the very right of the photo.

It was a fun and wild 6 days in Hawaii and I debated on adding this photo, then decided not to put it in, then decided oh heck I need to add it. Taken from Senor Frogs, was I surprised when I had to make a bathroom stop while Bonnie and I had chips and salsa there on the day that we left to come home....Add this to those crazy things you might see while on vacation I guess.