Getting In Some Training Runs for the Ho’olaule’a

The Ho’olaule’a is quickly approaching and paddlers are kicking it into gear to get trained and race ready. This past Saturday, Suzie Cooney (www.suzietrainsmaui.com) organized a Maliko practice run for paddlers to get some miles in on the famous downwinder. Coming off an unexpected high surf advisory mid week, Saturday turned out to be fantastic sunny day. The high surf receded leaving perfect conditions with 15+ knot winds. Paddlers began arriving at Paia Youth and Cultural Center just before 8am and ranged in age from late teens to 70 years young. One of the attendees, Sharina Husted, just gave birth to a new baby daughter 29 days ago and had never done a down wind paddle before! Paddlers consisted of local Mauians to visitors from Canada, California and England.

22 of the paddlers had never paddled this down wind stretch on the nor th shore of Maui. To them, Suzie’s Practice Fun Paddle was a huge sense of accomplishment and a great way to build up some confidence prior to the upcoming race. Want to know more about Suzie? Check out her blog at http://www.suzietrainsmaui.com/blog/ for training tips and future fun paddles she’s hosting. Not quite ready for the full throttle of the full 8-mile Maliko race? Then the ‘Ohana Fun Paddle may be more your speed. It’s a 3-mile non-competitive, non-timed paddle. It starts at 9:00am on Sat May 14 and runs downwind from Paia Bay to Kanaha Beach Park. All human-powered ocean craft are allowed and a portion of the proceeds go to the OluKai ‘Ohana Giveback Program. Learn more about the Ho’olaule’a and sign up for all races at https://www.olukai.com/Hoolaulea/about Mahalo!