Treading on the footsteps of greatness

Wednesday morning, July 30th
I stepped out onto Ali'i Drive and just started heading North - past the rock wall that Brian and I sat on smoking cigars and drinking mudslides the night before, past the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant, and the Wyland Gallery. To my right, the tall mountainside, whose mountain top remained obscured by the gray fog. To my left, the Pacific Ocean and marina who this morning was host to one large Cruise ship.

It was 6 AM, listening to the rhythm of my running shoes on the ground when it dawned on me that I might be treading on the footsteps of greatness. Here I was in Kona, Hawaii home of the World Championships for the Ironman. The Super Bowl/World Series/World Cup of all Triathlons. This very street that I'm running on may actually be the same street others have suffered their last leg on, painfully searching for a way to get over "the wall".

Wow!

Sure enough, when I got home and checked the Ironman Kona Course Map, Ali'i drive is the home stretch of the marathon portion of the race. Just North of the Marina area was the finish line. I thought, this will probably be the closest I'll ever get to running the Kona Ironman, but it was still pretty cool.

Here was my run from that morning...