 Now it was my turn. I didn't know what to expect though I knew what
I was capable of, and I wasn't afraid of hills. I just didn't know who
my competition was. Leg four was the "glory leg" up Cape Smokey and likely
the best runners would want to do it. After all that's why I had volunteered. |
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After five km only two of us were in it. We settled into an easier pace, content to wait for the hill at the 9 km mark. Just before the bottom of Smokey I decided to try and stretch my lead. As I went into the hill and Steve Bujold handed me a water bottle I asked, "Am I dropping him?" Steve replied that I had a three second lead. That's what I wanted. Just enough of a lead to make a psychological gap. |
Cape Smokey is 2 km of extremely steep grade. Running up a hill that
long after 9 km of brisk running is painful. At the bottom of the hill
I looked at my watch, noted the time, and figuring 5 minutes a kilometer,
calculated that I would reach the top in ten minutes.
To keep myself going I played a mental game by telling myself I would run for ten minutes or until I reached the top--then I could stop. Of course I had no intention of stopping, but it helped me get through the pain. I remembered the race brochure talking about a nice view going up the hill and how one might even spot a whale. Briefly I looked out over the ocean. No whales in sight. When running the Maui Marathon in 1994 I had spotted a whale along the Kaanapali coast at about the fifteen mile point. |
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At the crest of the hill I had expanded my lead to 15 seconds. Now I would accelerate to ensure the gap was too wide for him to overcome. For over 8 km the course goes steadily downhill. I just relaxed and let my legs fly. |
| Half a kilometer before the finish line it turned uphill. The pain returned. The finish line was near though and I had increased my lead to over a minute. It was finally over and I had won! |  |