The XTERRA Trail Running World Championship is an off-road half-marathon that I ran on December 4, 2011 on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Some of the world’s fastest trail runners were onsite competing for $10,000 in prize money which is awarded to the top 7 men and women. The scenery was stunning.
The spectacular Kualoa Ranch, on the northeastern side of Oahu less than an hour from Honolulu, hosted this ultimate Hawaiian experience for the international field of trail runners for the third year in a row.
The 4,000-acre working cattle ranch reaches from the steep mountain cliffs to the sparkling sea and the terrain varies from dense rainforest to broad open valleys and from beautiful white sand beaches to awesome verdant cliff faces. The epic nature of Kualoa Ranch has inspired television shows and Hollywood films such as Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor, Godzilla, Tears of the Sun, 50 First Dates, and LOST.
I had decided last minute to run this race since I would already be in Hawaii for the Honolulu Marathon the following weekend, and visiting my friend, Steffen. Apparently the decision was not a well thought out one. I was super sore after the XTERRA half and barely able to run a good marathon! The terrain was unreal and gorgeous, but the run was very rigorous. Steep hills and slippery muddy trails left me breathless…literally. Around mile 10, the volunteers at the water stations were telling the runners to be careful on the way down. I didn’t think it was going to be that bad, until I had to run down the muddy trail holding on to ropes spanning the trees, so that I wouldn’t fall and cause a chain reaction of runners falling on top of one another, for most of the trail was a one track trail. Meaning, only one runner at a time could be on trail, so it was very hard to pass anyone up or to get passed, unless you went off trail. So, you had to keep up! Up to date, I would say this race was the toughest I’ve ever ran, surpassing the La Jolla Half Marathon and any other marathons I’ve done. The end result: finishing time of 2:23:09, 295 out of 510 finishers.
Here is a link to one of the videos from the race. Check it out: http://www.xterra.tv/?bcpid=96876705001&bclid=30080813001&bctid=700952333001
