Hapalua Half Marathon in Honolulu, Hawaii

A week of Aloha Spirit!

We had the best family Hawaiian adventure, culminating in the Hapalua Half Marathon in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ohana

Initially, I had planned on saving Hawaii for my 50th race, as many people seem to do. However, when my parents mentioned taking a family vacation to Hawaii, I discovered that the Hapalua race lined up perfectly with the kids' school Spring Break. Plus, there was a Norwegian Cruise Line Pride of America sailing the week before, which is how my parents suggested we explore Hawaii because it provides highlights from the four islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii (Big Island), and Kauai. The stars aligned, and I am so grateful my parents made this trip possible.

We flew from Pittsburgh to Honolulu, connecting through Phoenix, and met my parents in the airport. Together, we made our way to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort for a one-night stay prior to embarking on our cruise. Hilton Hawaiian Village is a sprawling, multi-unit resort, and check-in was a nightmare. The lines were surprisingly long and slow, it was so disorganized. After such a long day of travel we just wanted to get to our rooms and crash. We ended up in two rooms that were at opposite ends of the resort. Our room was fine, but small and lackluster for the price. My parents ended up in a beautiful ocean-front room, that was more like a living/dining room as it did not have any beds! The hotel wheeled in twin-sized trundle beds for them. The whole thing was very bizarre. I think if you were planning on staying for the week and just wanted to explore the resort and the beach then it would be a nice place, but it was not ideal for a quick pre-cruise stay.

Exploring the Hilton Hawaiian Village

We had to try pineapple on pizza the first night in Hawaii

My parents' room didn't have beds, but they did have an incredible view!

Even though the front desk had told us they had no information regarding the Norwegian Cruise Line port transfer process, we ended up receiving a welcome letter with more information around 8:00 pm. It would have been helpful to have earlier in the day, but did explain things well and made us feel better. We found the Norwegian Cruise Line information desk the next morning and the port transfer process went smoothly.

Unfortunately, Nolan had a particularly rough day of travel and we ended up visiting the Queen's Medical Center Emergency Room in the middle of the night. The nurses and physicians who took care of us were some of the kindest humans we've ever met. Nolan ended up having an emergency procedure and being admitted to the hospital.

We scrambled a bit and managed to send the kids ahead on the cruise with my parents. Certainly not ideal, but we were all trying to be flexible. I was able to go along to the port to get everything squared away and say good-bye. At that point, we weren't sure what the rest of the trip was going to look like!

Bon Voyage!

I set a record for Uber rides (16!), doubling my entire previous lifetime Uber ride history (8), lol. With that extensive experience, I can happily report that using Ubers to get around Honolulu is incredibly easy! I definitely appreciated not needing to rent a car and drive/park. The Uber drivers I had a chance to visit with were all wonderful. I opted to move us to the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach because I was annoyed with the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was too expensive and too overwhelming for a mediocre room, at best. Rather than trying to extend my one-night stay there, I found plenty of availability right in Waikiki. Our room at the Hilton Garden Inn was so much nicer, so much cheaper, and right across from a Target!

Hilton Garden Inn pool and a Target

Even the Target had Aloha Spirit

After moving our luggage and checking in to the new hotel, I visited Nolan. He was recovering well, and again, the PACU and floor nurses were all amazing. They helped him order some really impressive hospital food for dinner, teriyaki chicken stir fry with rice.

Hospital room with a view!

Impressive hospital food

Nolan was discharged the next day, and we got him settled in to the hotel room to rest. I went in search of dinner, and just a couple of blocks away I found Marugame Udon that one of my friendly Uber drivers had recommended. It was easy to order from the take-out window, and the noodles were delicious! We also tried the Spam Musubi (Spam Sushi) that was surprisingly tasty!

We visited Marugame Udon again after the race so the kids could try Spam Musubi, too!

I was surprised to learn that it is really not all that difficult to catch up with a cruise at a later port. Who knew? I figured it was a "miss the boat" situation, but in fact, once Nolan was feeling up to it we made plans to catch an inter-island flight to Maui and set off to catch up with our family/the cruise ship!

Flying Hawaiian Airlines was a lot of fun! I had pictured flying island to island on tiny planes, but these were regular-sized planes that were completely full and left hourly! They were relatively inexpensive and easy to book at the last minute. The boarding passes were bright pink, the seats were teal, they passed out tasty juice, and the views were out of this world!

Diamond Head

The rest of the cruise went smoothly. We explored and experienced a lot of Hawaii. I loved hearing the language and learning about it from our tour guides. It is such a beautiful and descriptive language, with only 13 letters of the alphabet! The different islands are each so interesting and have their own unique vibe. The kids had a chance to see green sea turtles on the beach and hike Haleakala. We all went to Volcanoes National Park to see Kilauea, which was threatening to erupt any day. The rain had delayed the predicted eruption, thankfully, so we could get into the park to see the beautiful views and steam vents everywhere, such a cool experience!

Toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time!

Hanalei in Kauai

Hawaii has a lot of chickens!

The Luau was a highlight!

When our cruise returned to Honolulu on Oahu the following Saturday morning, we headed to the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. I cannot say enough positive things about this hotel! Even with the massive race in town, they had rooms ready for us and we were checked in by 10 am!? We were so thankful to have a place to put our luggage and stretch out for a little bit (the cruise stateroom was quite cozy for a family of four). The Marriott room felt huge, with a seating area and a balcony on the 27th floor overlooking Waikiki Beach! It is a perfect location, highly recommend!

Swimming in the Pacific Ocean!

Alice and I visited the Expo to pick up my bib. It was at a convention center about 4 miles away from the hotel. It was straightforward. Bib pickup was easy. They provided really nice reusable shopping bags and the shirts are very nice! They had fun merch, plenty of vendors, and photo ops.

Hawaiian shave ice for dinner!

Race morning I woke up sound 5:00 am, conveniently (?) I never fully adjusted to Hawaii time and had been going to bed very early and waking up very early. I was downstairs by 5:30 am, and stepped right out of my hotel into the starting line corrals! Technically, the starting line was a few blocks further down the street in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue, but the way the corrals were staged I didn't need to go that far. I took a few fun early morning pictures on the beach and enjoyed the crowd energy.

It was a very big crowd with over 10,000 runners, and the corrals were loosely defined, so we all just shuffled towards the start together. It really didn't thin out very much! The streets were wide though, and we had plenty of room. It was hot and humid from the beginning, but luckily it remained overcast so the sun was not beating down on us directly. I was glad I had packed my cooling towel in my hydration vest back pocket, I loaded it up with water in the first aid station and appreciated it the rest of the race.

The first eight miles of the course were flat and fast! We ran past the high-end shops of Waikiki Beach like Gucci, Prada, and Tiffany's. The course took us back towards the cruise ship port. Then, we turned around and headed back past the start line/hotel. It was so easy for my family to step outside and cheer me on around mile 7.5. They brought me a cold, purple Gatorade, and it gave me the boost I needed as I headed towards the Diamond Head stretch.

I had been warned about this part! Around mile 9 you begin a steady climb that lasts for two miles or so! I was nervous and planned on walking, but honestly, I didn't mind it. There were still so many people around, and the views were so breathtaking, that the time still passed really quickly. A gentle rain even started during this stretch, which was refreshing! You climb the mountain, go down a little bit, turn around, climb again, and then get to run downhill to the finish.

It was a unique experience, as a back-of-the-pack runner, to have so many people around me for the entire race. I was surrounded by other runners and walkers from start to finish! Having no time limit made it feel very laid back and walker-friendly. People of all ages and abilities were out there enjoying the experience and encouraging each other.

The finish line security fences were a little tough to navigate and my family had a hard time getting close enough to cheer for me. I think sticking to the beach side might have been more effective for them, but I got to say a quick hello through the fence before I was funneled into the finish line area. I got the fresh malassada that I'd heard about, delicious, along with some pineapple juice and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. I worked my way back to the kids to share my snacks, and we took a few pictures on the beach. I am always happy when a race finishes near the beach!

We found a nice restaurant on the beach, Cheeseburger in Paradise, for lunch. The mild climate year-round allows so many of the buildings (airport, hotels, shops, restaurants, etc.) to move seamlessly from inside spaces to open-air spaces. It was very interesting! We visited the beach again and played in the pool. We made one final stop for noodles and Spam Musubi so the kids could experience it.

On our final morning, we visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. This was on my Hawaii bucket list, so I am very happy we could fit it into our trip. The memorial and visitor's center are very well-designed, and we learned a lot.

We flew out in the evening, on an overnight flight connecting in Dallas that arrived back in Pittsburgh around 10:30 am the following morning. Hawaii is magical, but the traveling logistics are exhausting and expensive! I actually think it will work out really well to plan my 50th State race somewhere a little bit easier to get to instead, like Florida perhaps, so that family and friends can join me to celebrate when the time comes.

All in all, I loved the Hapalua Half Marathon and highly recommend it for a Hawaiian race that is full of low-pressure Aloha Spirit! There is no time limit and the logistics are easy (besides the actual traveling to Hawaii part...). The swag bag, shirt, and medal are all high quality. The course is really enjoyable and flat, except for the part that climbs a mountain twice at the end, lol. You can't beat the scenery!