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Racers undaunted Call them crazy, but ultraendurance racers are a different breed of runners. An elite group of 58 runners braved stormy conditions this weekend to race 100 miles through the night on forest trails that often flowed like rivers.
by rain on 100-mile
endurance run
58 runners took part in the
second annual H.U.R.T. 100By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com"At night, you're reduced to a snail's pace," said Catra Corbett, 37. "It was dangerous. You could have run off a cliff."
The fuschia-haired Californian, legs covered with mud, looked fresh for finishing the whole course in a little more than 34 hours. The race was the 13th 100-miler she's done, but was the hardest, and this year was the worst weather she's ever run in.
Wearing halogen head lamps, runners from Hawaii, the mainland and Germany took off on the 2nd annual Hawaiian Ultra Running Team Trail 100 at 6 a.m. Saturday on a 20-mile loop course. Runners had a 36-hour time limit, which ended 6 p.m. yesterday .
The course runs from the Hawaii Nature Center in Makiki over Tantalus to Paradise Park in Manoa, back up Tantalus across Nuuanu ridge to Jackass Ginger, back over Nuuanu ridge and ending at the starting point.
The race is rated as one of the top three in difficulty because of the course's 27,000 feet of ascent and descent.
Out of 58 starters, just 12 finished 100 miles; 27 finished 62 miles.
"The race in itself is the hardest thing I've ever done, but with all this rain it was rough," said Greg Pirkl, formerly of Hawaii, who took 5th place in his first H.U.R.T. Trail 100.
"Waves of rain would just come down," said Pirkl, 34, who now lives in San Diego. "Lots of slipping and sliding."
Ben Cavazos, 42, attempted the 100 miles last year but failed. This year the weather could have hurt him.
"I was freezing last night, but somebody saved me," said Cavazos, an Army sergeant major. He was given a regular trash bag that kept him warm.
But Cavazos said it's as much mental as physical and was grateful for two who ran as pacers.
His boss, an Army colonel, ran the fourth 20-mile segment, singing to him to keep him awake. The 42-year-old felt dizzy, so he took a 20-minute nap, which revived him for the final 20-mile leg, which he ran with his wife. He finished with a time of 34 hours, 12 minutes.
"If you don't have somebody, you lose focus," he said.
The runners feasted on hot dogs, hamburgers, spam musubis and kalua pig sandwiches at the aid stations.
"That's why I do this," Pirkl said. "It's like a buffet for 30 hours."
So why else would anyone want to run 100 miles?
"I just got tired of running 10Ks on the road and marathons," said Hawaii resident Jeff Huff, 40. "That environment is such a dog-eat-dog world. But we become compatriots. The ultrarunning scene is older people in their 40s."
Divorce lawyer Monica Scholz of Ontario, Canada, said: "Running 100 miles is the only distance I can run and shut off the work. And I come back with a fresh perspective."
Scholz, 34, who finished second in the women's division this year and took first place last year, set a record by running 23 100-mile races last year.