Volcanic activity, running on cinder cones and lava fields - Big Island, Hawaii
Most of my awareness about the island of Hawaiʻi, also known as The Big Island, has come from watching the Ironman World Championship. The Ironman Triathlon course is made up of a 2.4 miles (3.86 km) open water swim in Kailua-Kona Bay, a 112 miles (180.25 km) bike ride across the Hawaiian lava desert, and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run along the coast. While I had initial thoughts of renting a bike to experience the bike portion, or to run part of the marathon course, when I got there, I decided that running along the highway wasn’t the adventure I was looking for. As such, I found a couple of other interesting runs close by to our hotel in Waikoloa.
The first run I did was on one of the more unusual types of terrain I've run on, a cut path through an old lava flow. The path is the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail, also known as the King’s Trail, that is 175 miles long. I only ran a small portion of it around the Waikoloa Village, but it was enough distance to appreciate the effort made to clear this path since it was cut directly into the lava fields. From a distance, this lava field looks like dirt, but they are anything but dirt, being made up of jagged, hard rock. On this run, besides the lava fields, one also gets to run along some rocky ocean shoreline.
My second run required a drive to the Pu'u Wa'awa'a State Forest Reserve, where I ran around and up a cinder cone that visually looks like a jello mold. The Pu’u Wa’awa’a Cinder Cone Trail starts at an unassuming parking lot. However, the trail gets interesting as it approaches the base of the cinder cone since it quickly winds up the mountain for about 1800 feet (550m). There are a few places to stop and take in the views of the ocean to one side and inland to the other, including a smaller cinder cone. The trail is very runnable, being made of up dirt roads and cut grass, but also with some single track trails if you look for them.
While I wasn’t able to get in an ultra distance run on this trip, the unusual nature of each run made them very satisfying experiences. In one case, people directly carved out a trail in a hard lava flow, and in the other, a vent created as part of a volcano is now a mini mountain. The trail I considered running while I was there was surprisingly blocked by snow, and often gets blizzards. We drove up Mauna Kea, but at the visitor center the road was closed and the clouds covered the summit. You can ascend the mountain via the Humu'ula Trail that is about 13 miles (20km) out and back, with 9000 feet (2700m) of elevation gain. If you have the chance to visit Hawaii for your ultrarunning destination, I hope you get the opportunity to check these trails out.
