Haleakala Run to the Sun Report: Wendy Minor

Thirty-five years ago I made my first trip to the summit of Haleakala, by car, with my parents. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. My Dad said "it is a great day to go to the crater". That became the family slogan whenever anybody in the family was on Maui and we could see the summit. Well, last Saturday was "a great day to go to the crater" and I had plenty of time to think about my late father and what he would think of my run to the sun…

After 25 Ironman finishes and 6 XTERRA age group world championships, I was truly humbled by the Run to the Sun.

I have the incredible Cheryl Loomis to thank for hauling me up to the top…Cheryl was skipping, and running, and dancing the hula at the aid stations ahead of me. It was all I could do to navigate a straight line as the altitude took its toll on me. At one of the last aid stations a great volunteer asked how I was doing. I said "this is hard". He said "You say it is hard; most people would say it is impossible". That gave me something to push me along. I tottered across the finish line and into the arms of a great bunch of HURT folks. You all are so supportive, and training with you has been terrific. The race was everything John said it would be, and I had to dig deep to pull it off, but it was worth every step of the way. And now that I’ve made it to the top of Haleakala, I hope I can be an official member of the HURT family, instead of the hanger-on, wannabe….Mahalo to all of you.