The Road To HPA - 10/19/08 by ANONYMOUS

A lot of people run to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

Steve Prefontaine

We are only two weeks away now from one of the most exciting girls cross country races in the history of the state of Hawaii. This week I'm going to talk about the HPA course itself. The first 1200 meters is relatively flat. Then you hit the hill. Gradual at first but then steep at the end. How steep? Very steep. It is right about now you will notice something else, the DUST. If you are at the front it will not be a problem, but in the back it will.

The second mile is not as bad as you traverse across the hill and then hit the downhill. For those of you who run the down hill well this will be a time to pass and make up ground as you prepare to start the final 3rd mile.

Here is the last bit of info on the HPA course. It sits at 3000 ft elevation. This will favor some runners who train all the time at this elevation. At 3000 ft there is only 18% Oxygen oncentration. Some runners it will not effect but others it will. Now you are heading up the hill the last time and across the hill again. It is almost over. As you head down the hill the last time you are heading toward the finish. Next week I'm going to give you my personal picks and why on what I call the "Super top ten".