Revel Kulia Half Marathon Race Report

The crazy idea of breaking two hours in the half marathon came to the surface once Revel announced that it had created its inaugural Kulia Marathon and Half Marathon to be held on the Big Island of Hawaii on Saturday, March 9, 2019.

Did I think that I could break it on a flat course?  At some point, possibly.

Doing the math, I know that you have to hold a 9:14 pace the entire way and not until late November was I able to even do that for a 5K.

And, actually, even that was an error.  (I really needed a 9:09 per mile!)

However, I thought that it was possible.  Why?

Well, I do my best racing in the winter time, regardless of what my weight was or is.

When I ran Revel’s Mount Charleston Half Marathon, located on the outskirts of Las Vegas, I had a certain time improvement from times that I had recently produced before that race.

2:16:17 - 11/13/16 - Harlingen Half Marathon, Harlingen, TX – 126
2:19:06 - 11/25/16 - The Waddle Half Marathon, Dallas, TX - 127 (Basically flat)
2:13:05 - 1/29/17 - USA Fit Half Marathon, Sugar Land, TX – 128
2:15:44 - 2/25/17 - Citizens Medical Center Run Against Cancer Half Marathon, Victoria, TX – 129
2:06:09 - 4/29/17 - Revel Mt. Charleston Half Marathon (Downhill), Las Vegas, NV – 130

Somewhere in here, I figured that I had experienced an eight percent difference in times from a flat course to a downhill course.

Therefore, I needed to run a half in less than 2:10 to even have a shot at breaking two.

And let me be blunt, if I achieved it – it would be - a “downhill PR”.

Early last year, I had a physical and my glucose was a bit elevated at 144 (you like it to be under 99) and my hemoglobin, taken three months later, was 6.6 (and this needs to be under 6.0).

So some lifestyle changes were in order.

I cut out as much sodas as I could and made my snacking options as those items that had the least amount of sugar – and I started to eat lunch when I was out on the road traveling.

That is something that I had always struggled with – thinking that I couldn’t do it under the watchful eye of the client that I was doing consulting work for.

The first sign that a sub 2 effort was possible – after committing to the race in mid-September shortly after it opened – was the Nutrabolt Oktoberfest Half Marathon in College Station.

A cool day, I put out a 2:12:49 on a course that had a significant number of turns and some inclines in the middle-to-late parts of the race that my legs knew about the most.

I would have the chance to get in state #46 for half marathon in early November when I ran the Colt State Park Half Marathon in Bristol, Rhode Island and posted a time of 2:15:02.

A double-loop course that had some rollers in it let me know that I was still in the same ballpark as the effort two weeks earlier in Aggieland.

The progression continued at the Waco Zoo Stampede 10K in Waco with a 59:07 on a course that was just a small bit short, but the big surprise came on the Sunday after Thanksgiving with a 28:24 Run For Wellness 5K out at George Bush Park.

Not even well-rested after broadcasting three basketball games at Houston Christian High School in the late afternoon and early evening, I drove to Tyler for the inaugural Tyler Half Marathon on Sunday, November 2 and posted a 2:11:14 on a course that definitely wasn’t flat.

So what was a completely flat course?  The Santa Hustle Half Marathon in Galveston. 

That would be my test to see if sub 2 was a real chance or not, and it didn’t hurt that the price on that race was right too.

Even on a day that wasn’t necessarily in my weather wheelhouse, I notched a flat course PR of 2:06:58 and I started to get excited that sub 2 in Hawaii was indeed possible.

The excellent racing continued into early February with a bevy of low 28-minute 5K’s and a 56:31 10K in Lumberton, but danger lurked.

I started having some knee issues, however, especially on the outside of my right knee.

The only difference – other than the confirmed drop of weight of 28 pounds from the year before – was that I was back in dress shoes, which I hadn’t been in three months.

Plus I’ve never been a high mileage person because I never thought my body could handle it, given that I weighed 252 in early January 2018.

So in the month of February, I ran a lot less during the week – and being in the bitter cold of the northeast (Philadelphia / New Jersey) for work didn’t help things.

In the last week or two, I still was only able to really run a couple of times a week; however, I changed my thinking going into this past Saturday to the fact that if I hit it, great.

If not, it was still state #48 with New Jersey and California to obtain.

The event advertised a descent that dropped 2,505 feet for the half marathon – nearly a half a mile.

After going to packet pickup on late Friday morning, I decided to drive the course – something that I haven’t done since the Little Rock Marathon in March 2006.

And, actually, for once, I was glad that I did.

My reconnaissance proved to be right on race day.

The first five miles were definitely screamers.

The next five had six inclines or uphills, whatever your definition is of them.  I likened the course – in a different sense – to the 3M Half Marathon in Austin – a “net downhill” course.

After that, if you had enough in the tank, it was reasonable that one could hammer the last three, especially the final mile.

Even at 2,644 feet above sea level, race morning it was about 50 degrees.  I had a long-sleeve shirt over my Liberty University racing shirt and I wore the gloves that they provided in the packet pickup bag.

I took a chance that I think might have paid off well and that was that I slipped towards the front of the pack.

We started in the left lane of a two-lane road and I was just 10.44 seconds across the line after the gun went off.

I knew in talking to some of the Revel staff while out at the start that there was about 400 or so registered in both races so it should have allowed everybody to run their own race.

Pre-race, I had two strategies:  1.) put the hammer down and go for broke or 2.) enjoy the day and simply get state #48.

A number of Volte Endurance Training athletes were there, another to do the half and a couple to run the marathon.

Gabby Brockett, who was running the half and was there on the trip with her husband and son, was planning to just enjoy the day.

I would decide completely after mile 1.

The first mile was a little bit of a very slight incline, but I thought it was just a stretch to be able to figure out how you and your legs felt.

In the middle of that first mile, I had a sign that I didn’t stretch – and my right hamstring started to announce its presence.

Mile 1 came through in 8:42.32.

Although there were no markings on the road that might have come during the certification process, the mile markers seemed right.

The second mile had a bit of a pronounced downhill before making the right-hand turn on to Hawaii 19 that would take us 11 more miles to the finish.

We ran in a very-wide left-hand shoulder and I posted an 8:56.94 second mile.

Again, knowing that I had to have 9:14 or better, I realized that I was putting a little time in the bank, but it certainly wasn’t going to be a lot to spare.

I knew that I needed to make a little hay in the next three miles and I did.

Mile 3 – 8:29.45
Mile 4 – 8:49.82
Mile 5 – 8:35.37

And then the inclines started to come.

The next three miles had the following splits:

Mile 6 – 8:51.51
Mile 7 – 9:03.79
Mile 8 – 9:03.93

However, I knew the next two – as we came into Waikoloa Village – were going to be a challenge, especially as a lot of the wind had subsided and temperatures became a bit known.

The mile 9 marker came up just on the south side of the Village and it was the first mile split that was over 9:14 – 9:27.45.

I didn’t panic, but I knew that I didn’t have a ton of gas in the tank as I hadn’t covered the full 13.1-mile distance since late December – and my mileage wasn’t any more than 10-15 the past four weeks.

The tenth mile, which included the biggest incline of them all, revealed a split of 10:13.45.

My watch basically showed 1:30 at that point with a 5K to go.

I realized that it wasn’t going to be easy to make sub 2, but I was also mentally prepared to accept if I didn’t make it.

Mile 11 wasn’t a pronounced downhill; however, it yielded a 9:39.41 split.

There was still a chance.

I figured I had banked 21 seconds, but really it was over the 9:14 – and I wasn’t in a space to try and do the math completely from the 10:13 split.

I thought that the last two miles were screamers, but it was basically only the last mile.

I think – although I could be wrong – that the last aid station came in mile 12.

That split was 9:24.01 – again seven seconds over the 9:14, but 36 seconds under 10 minutes a mile.

At that point, I started to taste it.

Mile 13 was 8:35.04 and the last tenth of a mile was a 10-minute per mile pace of 59.58 (but again, the markers could have been slightly off too).

Twice on the course, I had started to cry thinking about my sister and my grandfather primarily, as I do in many races, but also about my great aunt Phyliss Walk, who passed away less than two weeks ago in our hometown of Tyrone, Pennsylvania.

I almost did so again shortly after finishing, but was just really happy that things all came together to have a really nice race – and to hit a goal that I thought was reasonably possible.

Shortly after I finished, I realized that Gabby hadn’t taken it easy and crossed in 2:06:05.

Good for her.  She later told me that her flat course PR was either 1:56 or 1:58.

The two Volte marathoners didn’t have the days that they were looking for – Leanne Rosser just missed a Boston Marathon qualifying time with an otherwise fine effort of 3:56:51 while Marta Mixa, who at one point was forced to stop in the first half of the race, crossed in 5:44:26.

I saw Houston’s Candace Caesar, an athlete with Team Catapult, before the race as we waited to board school buses to shuttle us to the start line.  She finished the half marathon in 2:51:54.

I knew that the Marathon Junkie – Chuck Engle – was running, but didn’t see him until he approached the finish line.  Chuck was fourth overall and second Masters in 2:56:28.

So what’s next?

I seriously doubt that I’ll head back to doing marathons, even though I have 34 states covered in my 54 finishes.

I have two states to finish in half marathons – New Jersey and California.  I’m currently looking at options on how to complete those – in addition to whatever else I can squeeze in on a trip to do so.

If you read this far, thanks as always for your support and encouragement.

Running keeps me generally healthy physically, but as importantly, it shapes a positive mental health outlook – even when everything in my life might not have gone the way that I originally desired them to have been.