I JUST HAD TO SHARE THIS AWESOME & INSPIRATIONAL STORY!!!

THE 39TH HONOLULU MARATHON RACE

Christopher Redfox II of Mountain Village, Alaska makes a thrilling jump out of an airplane thousands of feet above the earth while skydiving in Hawaii with his jump instructor last December.

The creator and founder of the Honolulu Marathon was Frank Fasi in 1973. Fasi passed away in 2010 right before the 38th Annual Marathon Race. He was the mayor of Hawaii for 10 years and served as governor for one year.

The first Honolulu Marathon only had 151 finishers compared to last year’s (2011) - 19,078. The Marathon is on a small, tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and is among the ten largest marathon races in the world.

The marathon is popular enough that the Honolulu Marathon Association maintains an office in Tokyo to process entries. Japan Airlines has been the title sponsor of the race since 1985, and four out of the five supporting or contributing sponsors are Japanese companies (the only American sponsor is Nike).

This marathon is to fight against heart disease and also to enjoy the view of the beach and have a nice relaxing vacation.

How did I find out about this race?

During the middle of September in 2011, I went to Anchorage for my usual dental appointment to get my braces tightened. After I was done, I went to the Dimond Center Mall to eat breakfast by myself. I was sitting there alone saying to myself, “I wonder if I should just go to Hawaii.”

Then I thought of what my late brother Jerel Jacob Redfox told me, “You can say it, but can you do it?” I said it to myself and so I did it.

I called Alaska Cab for a pick up. I told him to take me to the airport and as soon as I got there I walked straight to the Alaska Airlines agent and asked, “When is your next flight to Hawaii?” He told me, “It leaves in a couple hours. Would you like to book?”

I reached for my wallet and gave him my credit card and bought a one-way ticket for $675.00. The only route to take was from Anchorage-Seattle, Seattle-Honolulu.

I got to Seattle at about midnight and I had a nine-hour layover, so I got a hotel to sleep in for the night.

I woke up at 8:30am and my flight left at 9am to Honolulu. I quickly got dressed and I got my boarding pass at 8:45am. Then I couldn’t find my gate. I was running looking and looking but couldn’t find it.

As soon as I found my gate I went straight to the Alaska Airlines agent and asked her if people boarded the plane for Hawaii yet. She pointed out the window and it was just taking off.

She told me she held the plane for me as long as she could but I got there a few minutes too late. The agent re-booked my flight for the evening flight that left ten hours later. I asked the agent if there was a shopping place for clothes. She said I would have to take the train to Seattle which was 45 minutes away.

So then I bought a Day Pass ticket for $5.00 to get to Seattle. As soon as I got to Seattle I went straight to Old Navy and bought $450.00 worth of clothes and a backpack to stuff all my clothes in.

All the clothes I had with me were the clothes I had on.

Afterwards I went to Chris’s Steak House and ate a huge barbecued rib steak with mashed potatoes, corn, gravy and ice cream. Still I had 6 hours to burn so I found a theatre and watched “Friends with Benefits”.

After the movie was over I had some time to explore Seattle for a while and then finally took the train back to the airport. As soon as I got there it was time to board for Hawaii.

I sat next to two gorgeous ladies from Colorado named Eryka and Teri. I told them I was running away from Alaska and nobody knew where I was and I didn’t answer anybody’s call for a whole week.

The only reason I ran away was because Alaska reminded me of my late brother Jerel Redfox too much and it was making me weak and lifeless. My brother Jerel passed away on January 23, 2010 on the Parks Highway half a mile away from Nenana.

Teri and Eryka told me to call my mother and at least tell her I’m okay. It was about 2am when we landed in Hawaii.

My first thought when I stepped off that plane was the air. It was the most humid place I had ever been. I would say this is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

I couldn’t find a hotel until about 3am and the hotel was about 10 miles away from the beach.

I met an Australian family that helped me find a hostel for $58.00 a night that was a few minutes away from Waikiki beach.

I wasn’t planning on coming back to Alaska until they talked me out of it. It was the time when the Anchorage Police Department contacted my cell phone and left a voicemail saying if I do not contact my parents with in 48 hours then they are going to post missing person pictures of me all over Anchorage.

While I was eating breakfast with the Australian family they wouldn’t let me go until I called my mother and told her where I am. As soon as my mother heard my voice she got relieved. I told her I was in Hawaii and for a second she couldn’t really believe it.

I stayed in Hawaii for about a week. As soon I checked into my hostel I went straight to the beach and met Melanie, Maureen and Alexis from Canada. They were on vacation and drove me around Hawaii.

While we were driving around we saw this huge mountain everyone was hiking called, Diamond Head (1,000 steps to the top and they weren’t regular steps).

Alexis and I hiked all the way to the top and we could see everything. It was the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen in my life.

Before the day was over I treated them out to dinner at a restaurant.

The next day I ran 13 miles and some Hawaiian Native told me about the “Honolulu Marathon” that was going to happen on December 11, 2011 and he thought that I would be able to beat the African Americans that came in first every year.

After my 13 mile run I went sky diving at North Shore which cost a total of $275.00. When I was up there I said to myself, “What have I gotten myself into?”

It was too late to back down. It was like nothing I could describe. I had the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had in my life. My next goal is to do bungee jumping.

As soon as I got back to Alaska I started training hard every morning before work started at 7am. I would wake up at 5am and run 10 miles, do 50 sit-ups and 25 push ups before work started.

All this wouldn’t be possible without the support from my family, friends and relatives. I would like to thank several teachers, Mountain Village Tribal Council and my parents for sponsoring me.

For awhile I thought I wasn’t going to be able to run the Marathon race because the flight from Saint Mary’s to Anchorage got cancelled on the 8th of December due to icing on the airstrip.

So I had I re-route to go from Mountain Village to Bethel. Then from Bethel to Anchorage. I had a connecting flight that left at 2pm the next day straight to Hawaii from Anchorage and I missed that flight because I was doing last minute things.

I went to an agent to see if I can get to Hawaii the next day but they were booked. The only way to get there was to go from Anchorage-Seattle, Seattle-Honolulu. It was an extra $775.00 because the only seat available from Seattle to Hawaii was a First Class seat.

As soon as I got to Hawaii I had to get my packet for my race. Afterwards I couldn’t find a hotel for about 5 hours because all the hotels were booked. Finally I found a hotel at about 10pm and the Honolulu Marathon Race started in 7 hours. As soon as I lay down I went straight to bed.

Christopher Redfox II of Mtn. Village runs in the 2011 Honolulu Marathon in memory of his brother Jerel. He finished with a time of 4:24:41.

When I woke up I couldn’t find any trunks because I forgot to pack them. All the stores were closed and I was thinking to run with pants the whole race until I went to the Dry Cleaners where everyone did their laundry.

I asked some stranger if I can buy a pair of trunks for $80.00 and he was kind enough to sell them to me for $40.00.

Finally after all the hassle to get to this race I was ready and prepared to run. Before the race started we said the Pledge of Allegiance and had fireworks.

During that whole race all I was thinking about was my late brother Jerel Jacob Redfox.

I kept on pushing myself to the limit until I crossed that finish line. I came in 2,741 out of 19,078 runners with a time of 4 hours 24 minutes and 41 seconds.

This was my 2nd marathon race out of many. I’m dedicating all my Marathon Races to my late brother Jerel Jacob Redfox who passed on January 23, 2010. You will never be forgotten. I love and miss you bro with all my heart.

by Christopher Redfox II

MAHALO NUI LOA...  "DELTA DISCOVERY" FOR POSTING THIS WONDERFUL STORY!!!

LIFE IS ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU MAKE OUT OF IT!!!

BRADA CHRIS REDFOX II, KEEP DOIING WHAT YOU DO BEST AND CONTINUE TO GIVE UNCONDITIONALLY TO THE WORLD!!!

AWWWRITE!!!

WAIPA