Naalehu, HawaiiThis was the inaugural race. This was a unique 5K. I have never seen anything like it. The race went for about 200 yards before it headed up a road that was once used to access the sugar cane fields. This road was very steep. The grade never let up. Not for a yard. We ran straight up and then turned around to run straight down. I have never run a hill like that, let alone in the Hawaiian heat. This 5k race goes down as the hardest ever. EVER! I doubt you will ever find a more difficult 5k. The hill was so steep, that when I go to the turn around, I told Christian I was going to walk down. Not because I didn’t have any run let in me, but because I was afraid of injury. I am still amazed that both Christian and I made it up that hill without stopping. I repeat: I have never run a hill like that. I think the only reason we kept going is because we all believed that it would soon flatten out. It never did. I will call upon this race in the future for confidence. I doubt I will ever encounter a hill like that again. All other hills will be cake when I mentally compare them. Also of special note is the fact that this race while a bit remote is the most southern race in the United States. You can’t go any closer to the equator and still be in the United States than this race.
