KOHALA COAST — There will be no predictable patters of footsteps on the asphalt, endless miles of smooth highway riding, or a foolproof pre-race plan to make it to the finish line.
The inaugural XTERRA Hawaii Island off-road triathlon on Sunday will be a new kind of challenge for those who decide to take on the course, which will test both endurance and improvisational skills.
“You have to be so much more aware of the course and ready for anything,” said Andrew McHowell, who’s flying in from Oahu for the race. “With a normal triathlon you kind of know what to expect. With something like this, you never know what you will run into. It’s kind of like surfing — you have to stay on your toes.”
XTERRA is built on the idea that life is about the journey as much as the destination. That journey will consist of a half-mile rough water swim at Hapuna State Beach Park, followed by a harrowing 10-mile bike through rocks, kiawe thorns, sand and lava rock. The day wraps up with a 3.1-mile trail run to the finish line.
The race begins at 8:10 a.m., with awards slated for noon.
“It’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure,” said Chris Seymour, who will be among the 130-plus athletes taking on the trek.
Organizers up for a challenge
The event is organized by the husband-wife duo of Grant Miller and Janet Higa-Miller of Aloha Sports Kona, both veterans of the off-road circuit.
Higa-Miller was among the finishers at AquaTerra in 1996, which was planned to be a one-off race on Maui but eventually evolved into the XTERRA series.
“I just remember it being all so new,” said Higa-Miller in a previous interview with West Hawaii Today. “It was the first ever off-road triathlon and – it just spoke to me. I remember you couldn’t do the course ahead of time so you really didn’t know how far you would actually go and what it was going to be like.
“For me, it was the fear factor of being thrown into these elements and not knowing whether you were tough enough. So that was my thing, ‘Am I tough enough?’ And then I finished it, and 22 years later I still have that original finisher’s T-shirt. Out of the thousands of T-shirts I’ve accumulated throughout 30 years of racing, I would say that shirt is my most revered finisher’s shirt.”
She hopes to replicate that feeling for the athletes toeing the starting line for the first edition of the Big Island race.
“It’s a whole new animal,” Hilo’s Kelly Muragin said. “There’s a bit of uncertainty heading into it because it’s the first one. I think everyone just has to feel it out and have a safe mindset.”
The race is the Big Island’s first qualifier for the XTERRA World Championships, which are slated for Oct. 28 in Maui. There will be 25 slots up for grabs for the top finishers. Previously, Oahu’s XTERRA Freedom Fest was the only race in the state where athletes could earn a qualifying spot.
But for many, this will be their first official foray into the off-road world — or in Seymour’s case, triathlon in general.
“It’s short, so I have that going for me,” Seymour said with a laugh. “I love to compete, but my goals are just to have fun and finish.”
McHowell, a fairly seasoned triathlete, had a similar take.
“I like the adventure behind a race like this,” McHowell said. “I’m not as competitive. I don’t get nervous. It’s just about having fun. Goal wise, it’s not hurt myself.”
Organizers canceled the LavaKids event that was slated for Saturday due to unpredictable and potentially dangerous water conditions stemming from Hurricane Lane. But rain or shine, the big show on Sunday will be a go. If the water is deemed unsafe, the event will use a run-bike-run format, eliminating the swim portion of the race.
The road ahead
For the majority of thrill-seekers in the field, weather — no matter how bad — is just another variable.
“People that are into off-road racing appreciate the challenges nature provides,” Seymour said. “Hopefully the weather doesn’t keep people away. It’s going to be fun.”
Many of the athletes helped build the trails and did a preview ride last weekend to get a feel for the course. But with some inclement weather supposedly inbound, shifting earth could cause the course to look quite different on race day.
“When I do a normal triathlon I like to drive the course to get a feel for it,” McHowell said. “You can’t do that with this. The trail building was great preparation and an opportunity to see the course, but if it rains, who knows.”
Conversations about the race naturally steer toward the bike portion, which has been described as tough, technical and even treacherous by those who got a sneak peek. McHowell said some of the best advice he’s heard is to not have a fear of using your feet.
“I feel like I have OK experience with technical trails, but there are parts where the only option is to get off your bike and run up the hill,” McHowell said.
Seymour, who is the owner of the Hilo Bike Hub and has been an avid mountain biker nearly his entire life, agreed.
“It will be technical. There are a lot of hill climbs, drops into gulches and places where you really have to focus on weight distribution” he said. “I anticipate there will be points where people have to walk their bikes, which sometimes is the only option. I just tell people try not to look at the rocks. If you look at the rocks you will hit them and the consequences of a crash are not something you want to deal with.”
Muragin said she started doing triathlons about five years ago, but this will be her off-road debut. Getting off the road for the bike is what attracted her to the race.
“I’m afraid of riding on the road, so I tried out mountain biking and loved it,” Muragin said. “I never thought I’d be able to do a race like this, but I’m excited for it.”
The scenic route is what drew McHowell in. A landscape photographer by trade, McHowell got a taste of the Big Island during the Sea to Stars cycling race that ran from Hilo to the Maunakea Visitor’s Center earlier this month.
“Each island is so diverse, but the Big Island is by far my favorite. You can see all kinds of climates and incredible landscapes,” McHowell said. “Doing races like this is one of the best ways to see and experience the island.”
Seymour recalled the lava flows that recently took Kapoho and previously Kalapana as the driving force for him to make it out to XTERRA.
“We can’t take anything for granted,” Seymour said. “Something could happen and then we lose a place we love to go. That inspired me to go out and be out with my friends.”
Oh great , just what we need . More tourist jocks charging around the Big island backcountry , in search of more personal fitness . Yawn . Malama pono , malama aina ,aole pilikia
You’re right…just what we need. Each person who comes here for the an event spends hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in our Airbnbs, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, bike shops, souvenir shops, gas stations, car rentals and so on. They are great for the economy and help maintain jobs for those who work on those sectors. You may not benefit, but I bet your neighbors and friends do at some level. Oh wait, you benefit from the taxes they pay.