To hell and back: Big Islanders conquer 100 miles of HURT

Patrick Stover, Bree Wee and Sylvia Ravaglia were miles into the gnarly trails and semi-tropical rainforest of Oahu’s Manoa, Makiki and Nuuanu Valleys when, early Saturday morning, an employee at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent out a high alert message to the entire state that we were all in imminent danger of a nuclear catastrophe.

Completely oblivious to the surrounding mass panic and erupting chaos brought on by the emergency alert-turned-false alarm that completely paralyzed the state for an agonizing 38 minutes, the trio — along with a hundred other competitors — continued through their journey in hopes of finishing what has become the state’s most respected and grueling race on foot — the HURT Hawaii 100-Mile Trail race.

Race organizers designed the 100-mile trail course into five loops, with each loop equaling 20 miles over rocky single-track trails throughout Oahu’s famous mountainous rainforest valleys.

The course is noted for its grueling and technical terrain interspersed with gnarled roots, exposed ridges, vertical embankments and 20 stream crossings for a cumulative gain of 25,000 feet. Participants for the event are chosen via a lottery selection process, with entry limited to just 125 participants and a 36-hour cut off time.

A day after crossing the finish line, I caught up to Stover, Wee and Ravaglia, who shared their amazing HURT 100 stories, and what they learned from their individual experiences.

Patrick Stover

Crew Members: Jon-Erik Jardine, Joe Barcia, Sara Francione, James and Sarah Resor.

It’s hard to sum up a 100-mile trail race that took over 31 hours to complete into a sentence, but if you were to ask Kailua-Kona’s Patrick Stover about how he felt on finishing his first HURT 100 he would honestly tell you, “It wasn’t anything I ever expected.”

The 29-year-old shared that as thrilling it was to fulfill a dream that began over a year ago with his training partner, Wee, completing the state’s most grueling 100-mile trail event on foot over the holiday weekend was the hardest thing he’s ever put his mind and body through.

“I thought it would be similar to the Peacock 55-miler race I did a few months ago,” Stover said. “I felt good the whole time during Peacock. I felt strong, confident and sure of myself. And then this race happened. It literally brought me to my knees.”

Stover said that he completed his first three loops (60 miles) feeling really strong when he began to hit the wall.

“I started to feel this knot in my groin area which affected me lifting my leg and it became a sharp pain with every step,” he said. “At the same time, I was having trouble with my nutrition — I couldn’t hold anything down. That began to diminish my mindset, and once into the fourth loop, I was no longer sure if I could do this as all I could do was walk. I hate walking, but I couldn’t do anything else. I felt that I was done and I wanted to quit.”

And right on cue, the sun began to set. With darkness closing in around him, Stover said he felt all alone with only his mind wide awake to battle every negative thought he could think of.

“The dark hours were so hard. I got a lot of dark thoughts and went through some mental battles telling me to quit and give up,” he said. “I felt that I was at my end and didn’t want to go on anymore. I wanted to quit, but everyone else, including my crew, was cheering for me to go on.”

Stover said he then made peace with himself. If he could finish the fourth loop (80 miles), he’d be happy and call it a day. It would be the furthest he’s ever gone on foot, and that in itself, would be a victory. But then another competitor and friend, Oahu’s Sergio Florian, caught up to him and gave him the encouragement he needed to shuffle on.

“He told me that I still had a lot of time left to finish the fifth loop,” Stover said. “Right then, a light switch went on. I told myself I only have 20 miles left and more than 10 hours to finish it — I can do it.”

From walking, Stover began to shuffle along, and then finally he moved into a slow jog. The pain in his groin began to fade and he started to find a rhythm. Once he got to Paradise Park, he saw Wee.

“I really wanted to finish with her,” he said. “But she had a cramp in her quad that slowed her to a walk. I walked with her for awhile but then my legs began to get tight. I realized that I needed to keep going so that I could just end it already.”

Stover finished in a time of 31 hours, 19-minutes and 46 seconds, and dedicated his race to his Konawaena High School cross-country coach, Ken Foreman.

“The biggest thing I learned is that you always have more than you think you have left. When you think you can’t go anymore, you still can. Now that I’ve experienced it, I know that I can conquer anything. I dedicated my race to Ken Foreman as a way to thank him for everything he did for me. He taught me everything I know about running.”

Bree Wee

Crew Members: Grant Miller, Janet Higa-Miller, Mikey Brown, Wendy Smith, Malia Crouse, JD Hodnett and Tiffany Nakamura.

Never mind that she finished Sunday’s HURT 100 as the first female rookie and first Hawaii female competitor. The only thought in Wee’s mind when she crossed the finish line after running non-stop for 31 hours, 41 minutes and 41 seconds, was how badly she couldn’t wait to do another HURT 100-mile Trail Race.

“Oh my God, wasn’t that the best?” Wee said she told to her training partner, Stover, as soon as she crossed the finish line. “I can’t wait to do it all over again next year — you in?”

What began as a frivolous idea to run a distance longer than the popular 26.2-mile marathon, soon evolved with the duo taking on a personal challenge to see if they had the grit, and guts, to conquer 100 miles of Oahu’s burly trails.

From weekly runs averaging 80 to 100 miles; to running up and down massive volcanoes and trekking through the scenic Polulu, Waimanu and Waipio Valleys; and then to practice runs starting at a frigid 1 a.m., there was no doubt that after a year of training, Wee and Stover were ready for trail running’s Big Kahuna, the HURT 100.

“I think the whole experience changed me,” Wee said. “Just getting into long distance running and letting go of triathlon, it changed everything about me. It’s now become more of a lifestyle and more of who I am. It doesn’t feel like I’ve finally finished this thing that I’ve set out to do, but more like, I’m continuing to do something that I’ve always wanted to do. This is the kind of running that I first fell in love with before I did any other race.”

Wee said she held strong to a mantra that she repeated to herself nearly every step of the way, which helped to keep her focused.

“I told myself for every single step, for 100 miles, to just stay in the moment,” said the 38-year old. “It made the whole race go by really fast — it didn’t feel like I was out there for 31 hours. It felt more like just a few hours. And I cried from the start line to the finish line because I was just so happy to be out there.”

However, just as in any endurance event, there comes a time when one needs to face their inner demons. Like Stover, Wee’s came at the end of her third loop, after completing 60 miles.

“I’m a naturally driven person, so the hardest part for me came when I had the nutritional breakdown that caused me to stop for 45 minutes,” Wee said. “That was my biggest challenge and breakdown. I couldn’t move, I was curled over with non-stop vomiting, and I was so thankful that my crew was there to take care of me. But I felt so defeated and heartbroken. Just knowing that I’ve done all this work to get here and now there was something completely out of my control.”

Wee said that one of the race organizers knew what was wrong with her and advised to let her continue to run without taking in any calories as he knew that the body could still go on for at least three hours. And then maybe, it would allow Wee’s body the time needed to work out the kinks.

“By the time we got to the next aid station, everything turned around and I could start eating and drinking again,” Wee said. “So his advice worked and we were all so happy that I was back to feeling good, that we were dancing around and having a party. It was like 3 a.m. but I was so ready to run again.”

And now, with her first 100-mile trail race under her belt and already contemplating how to dial in her nutrition for next year’s event, Wee said that what she enjoyed most about her entire experience was her crew.

“I cannot believe the people who came together to help me through this. In comparison to triathlon when you are out on your own for the entire race, I wasn’t quite sure how I would be able to handle having a crew with me the whole way. I also felt bad asking people to crew for me knowing that as a single mom and school teacher, I wouldn’t have the money to pay for their flights over.

“So organizing a crew was probably the most difficult piece to put together before the actual race. But the very moment that I mentioned it to the few people I asked, no one even thought about the expenses, they were “all in.” I cannot feel more grateful.”

Sylvia Ravaglia

Crew Members: Mark and Tiffany Ravaglia

Sylvia Ravaglia said the thought of completing five consecutive HURT 100-trail races really began as an ugly dream five years ago.

“Back then it was just a total fantasy,” Ravaglia said. “Back then, I wasn’t even sure that I could do one. I didn’t know what it would actually entail doing HURT the first time around. And I never seriously thought that it would be possible that I could do five. But now, here I am, I just completed my fifth HURT 100 in a row.”

To date, Ravaglia is the only Big Island competitor to complete five HURT 100 races, and more impressively, the only one to do so consecutively. She has earned the reputation of being Big Island’s “Queen of Trail Running” primarily for her passion for ultra-endurance events, and competing in races that most people would often label as absolute crazy — like winning last year’s Mauna to Mauna Ultra 155-mile stage race.

But prior to crossing the finish line on Sunday in a time of 34:56:55, the 40-year old Waimea resident said she became an emotional wreck. The last few miles allowed her to reflect on all five of her HURT finishes, and Sunday’s race was the first time she would run in it with her 10-year old daughter, Tiffany.

“Probably the most special thing I did for my fifth HURT was having my daughter Tiffany pace me in during the last seven and a half miles. That was really special for me and it made me really emotional and happy to be able to finish with my daughter.”

Ravaglia said she was also happy to have planned a few things in advance to make earning another finisher’s belt fun.

“This year, being my fifth HURT 100 race in a row, one of the big things that I decided to do was to acknowledge all the volunteers,” she said. “They have the most incredible and amazing volunteers at HURT and these amazing people have helped me get through this. So I wanted to have the chance to give back, and give these volunteers something too.”

Ravaglia said she ordered 200 silicone bracelets and gave them to every volunteer throughout the race. She thought back to her rookie year in 2012 when she really didn’t understand how hard the trail and terrain would be. And then the following year when she panicked on whether she would finish before the cut off time. While her third year went pretty smoothly with only a few minor hiccups, she ended up finishing her fourth hurting badly with a broken rib. Yet through it all, Ravaglia said it was those amazing volunteers that kept her going.

Another thing Ravaglia decided before the start of the race, was to wear her HURT bracelet from previous years. Competitors are given a HURT bracelet prior to the event, and Ravaglia now had an impressive collection of five. She decided to use it as “fun” motivation to get through each of the five, 20-mile loops in Sunday’s event.

“Because HURT is five loops, I had Mark or Tiff put one of the past HURT bracelets on each time I started a new loop, which would let me end with all five bracelets,” she said. “It really helped to keep me going. I’m not fast, so I don’t have a lot of leeway. I know that I normally can do it in 34 hours or so and that gives me just an hour and half for things to go wrong within the 36-hour time frame.”

And while Stover and Wee might have been unaware to the mass chaos brought on by the false alarm sent out statewide by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, news of impending danger took Ravaglia by surprise.

“I was not at an aid station when it happened so when I ran by a couple of tourists, I noticed that they were stressed, staring at their cell phones, and saying, ‘well it’s got to be North Korea.’” Ravaglia said. “A few minutes later, a woman comes flying down the trail frantically yelling; ‘This is not a drill, this is not a drill. There’s a ballistic missile headed to Hawaii you have to get to your home base.’ I didn’t know what to believe, but I immediately thought about Mark and Tiff.

“I think that HURT offers us a chance to really appreciate living in this beautiful world. For 35 hours, I get to live in this world where everything is good, where all the things that are scary in the world don’t exist, and where everyone loves to run and be one with nature. And then we had this bomb scare. Luckily, it wasn’t real.”

Yet of all five years, Sunday will be the finish she remembers the most as it very well may be her last.

“I’ve learned a lot. I know that a lot of things can go wrong or things can go sideways really fast. I know things can go upright just as fast and I know that there are times that things can get really, really hard. But I swear that number five is it. I just wanted to go five by five and then that would be it.”