Cool places to run series: Waikiki, Hawaii

Waikiki Beach 
Waikiki Beach  is one of the the most famous and recognized beaches in the world, located on the island of Oʻahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii

Although Hawaii is a great place to visit, to run is not as easy as the other islands I've visited.

Traffic is very dense to say the least: whatever day of the week it is, there is always 

traffic. Trying to run appears really challenging. Not only because the traffic, there are 

also a lot of traffic lights (TRUST ME, stop for those traffic lights) and side walks are so busy that you look like a drunk runner trying to avoid head-on collisions with foot traffic. 

To each it's own; some like busy cities, for running, for the sake of my butt and my sanity, I prefer low traffic areas. 

Keep in mind that the rain can come out of nowhere. After I ran 6 miles it started drizzling; within minutes it started pouring. The specific tiles on the boardwalks at Waikiki beach get extremely slippery when wet, and boy, can it get wet. 

Despite the traffic, I did enjoy my two back-to-back half marathons on February 17 and 18, 2018

Cool places to run series: Bora Bora

Run Around Bora Bora

Bora Bora is a small South Pacific island northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia. Surrounded by sand-fringed motus (islets) and a turquoise lagoon protected by a coral reef, Bora Bora is one of the most exotic places you can imagine. Imagine the Bounty commercials x 5 and voila, welcome to Bora Bora. 

Although the beaches are great, I was more interested in running around the island instead of lying in sand with a coconut in my hand. The island measures close to 20 miles (31.5 km) in circumference which makes it for a great afternoon run. 

To run around the island is easy: start running and follow the road. As easy as that. 

There are no traffic lights (yeah New York should take an example of that :), hardly any cars, a few innocent stray dogs and that's about it; you're ready to run around the island.

Keep in mind that it can rain and with that I'm not kidding. Rain can come down faster than you can dream of, faster than the speed of light, and it can come out nowhere. I started of dry but as soon as I was 5 miles out, rain came out of nowhere. Although I hate rain, this rain is rather warm and feels nice. 

Bora Bora, as any other place in the South Pacific is very humid. Humidity of 90% is nothing out of the ordinary. Hey, makes you sweat even more. 

Here are the stats of the run

Cool places to run series: The Pony Express 100-mile

What an incredible experience - the Pony Express Trail 100 mile race which took place on 

October 10, 2017. Although the weather was rather nasty with temperature dropping to 26F (-5C) and 30 Mph (50 KM) headwind, the race was amazing. The landscape, the race crew, the organization, all great. A great trail run for those who fear mountains; besides a minor climb, the actual route is a flat as you can imagine(the course is 100% dirt road and only has 3,000 ft (1000 mtr) elevation gain/loss. 

The race takes place southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah (USA) and has a rather small competitor field. Great if you like small events, but, although small in size, the race is pretty good organized. Take note that you need to bring your own race crew; in this case I was fortunate to get three super race crew who took their job like, uber serious. I'm glad they did, as race crewing is really no joke; although you should have fun, helping a runner to survive 100 miles is rather a serious issue.

Some impressions from the race
After 22:48:30 I was happy to win the first prize in the masters.