A 75-year-old former Hawaii Island man trekked 260 miles around the entire island — on foot — in under five days.
For Stan Fortuna, the Go Big Ultramarathon was his longest race yet. He spent nearly every waking hour running, walking and hiking the circumference of the Big Island with a team of six from the mainland supporting his effort.
Fortuna lived in Hawaii for 11 years and formerly was Kamehameha Schools Hawaii’s superintendent and headmaster. After moving in 2012, he has continued to visit the island once or twice a year.
“Coming home to the aina and feeling connected to the people and culture is a huge reason why I wanted to make this happen,” Fortuna said. “I love the Big Island. It became my home and in some ways it still is my home. This experience only brought me closer to my connection here.”
Fortuna has been running consistently for the past 10 to 15 years. After connecting with a running group in Michigan, he continued to push himself to greater distances.
After arriving in Hawaii with his team, Fortuna began his Go Big journey at 5 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, in Hilo and ran clockwise around the island.
He spent 119 hours working his way around the island, with only eight hours of sleep during the allotted time of five days.
“I would run for four hours, rest for 10 minutes. When I would lose energy, I would run for an hour and rest for five minutes,” Fortuna said. “Resting was necessary, as it gave me time to fill up my water, replenish my backpack and change clothes, if needed.”
Fortuna’s team used a location app on their smartphones to make sure they were always tracking him. This was very important after he had a fall on the first day of the challenge.
“I got messed up, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to complete the run. However, my team was able to bandage me up and help alleviate the pain,” Fortuna said. “The hardest part of the (Go Big) may have been the last 20 miles when I started having a tough charley horse on my right hamstring.”
Luckily, after nearly five intensely challenging days trekking the island, Fortuna made it across the finish line in Hilo to a champagne welcome from Nancy Cabral.
Cabral and Volcano village runner Alyx Barnett helped organized the Go Big Ultramarathon. The event offers the 260-mile race, a 100-mile race, a 100-kilometer race, and a 50-kilometer race.
Lumin Zheng, a 25-year-old runner from China, was the only other participant in the 260-mile race.
One of Fortuna’s team members included Jasmine Hornberger, a chiropractor from Michigan. It was her first trip to Hawaii, and she helped Fortuna complete his challenge while seeing nearly every portion of the island on foot.
“It was neat to be introduced to the island through the eyes of someone who had lived there for a couple of years. It sparked adventurous experience for me, and I now want to look for more of these rare opportunities,” Hornberger said. “We were on foot, frequently walking three miles an hour, so it was cool to be able to soak in all the beauty of the island at a slower pace.”
Fortuna’s team of six worked in pairs of two, helping keep him on course thanks to their GPS system, salt tabs every hour, on the hour, and plenty of healthy foods, something Hornberger suggests was a major bonus in helping him reach the finish line.
“Another big part of the job was doing mindset work to keep him in a positive state of mind. It was nice to have those techniques in place, because his fall on the first day could have really knocked him out of his groove,” Hornberger said. “It was so cool to have a real in-time experience, where you had to problem-solve, make big decisions on the spot, and work as a team.”
Hornberger also used Facebook Live to document Fortuna’s challenge for family, friends and strangers.
“I think many people were excited to witness someone of his age doing something like this. It’s pivotal to breaking barriers of age and how we age,” Hornberger said “As a chiropractor, we encourage healthy movement in any way. You don’t have to run 260 miles, but doing simple things of walking and connecting with others ties into longevity and healthy aging.”
With tears in his eyes, Fortuna completed the Go Big ultramarathon at 2 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5, in four days, 23 hours, 46 minutes and 14 seconds after traveling 265.4 miles with 14,500 feet of elevation changes.
It was his 117th ultramarathon — which is any race longer than the traditional 26-mile marathon.
“While I’ve done ultramarathons before, I’ve never done anything like this. I think I’ll do some more crazy things before I’m done, but this takes the cake,” Fortuna said. “It hard to understand why we do these challenges, but it’s always worth it. There is a huge sense of accomplishment I feel, and I love being part of this community of people.”
Go Big 260-mile ultramarathon is an annual event that benefits the Hawaii Wildlife Fund. More information on the race and other ultramarathons can be found at ultrarunning.com.
Emaiil Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.