This was my first XTerra Trail World Championship and I LOVED it! Since I've done other XTerra races I knew it was going to be a well-organized race at a world-class venue with amazing views. The registration fee was reasonable, so I signed up without hesitation.

There actually was a decent-size cohort of folks who had traveled in for the race. I am a local living here on Oahu, so when the race is in your backyard you are always surprised to see how many people fly in for a race. But I do it too, so I shouldn't be surprised.

Packet pickup was available down in Waikiki which for a local was inconvenient (and incidentally is over an hour away from the race venue). Since Waikiki is quite touristy, locals usually don't like to head there unless we have to. Especially since you always have to pay for parking somewhere. But it makes sense for the folks who traveled in and could walk there. I did wish there would've been more vendors participating in the expo since I usually like to browse the merchandise and pick up a few souvenirs with the race logo on them. But I did like the race shirt and appreciated the swag in the digital race bag, so that was nice. The race shirt was a soft cotton, and while I wear it all the time I wish it would have been a technical shirt so I could wear it running.

The race itself was AWESOME. If you havenʻt been to Kualoa Ranch (the race venue) before you are in for a treat for this race! Lots of famous movies like Jurassic Park, Tears of the Sun, and Jumanji were filmed there so it's always fun to see the old movie sets that are still there and check-out the views from the movie in person.

If you are a hard core trail runner, you could be disappointed with the trail though. It was a mix of wide dirt roads, loose gravel road, and double track trails. There were a lot of small hills and several big climbs. All of them are runnable as long as you've got your hill running legs on.

Even though this race was in late November it still was a hot, humid day. If you aren't used to Hawaiʻi humidity, I would recommend bringing electrolyte supplements. About 8 miles in after one particularly hard uphill portion, a lot of people were camped out at one aid station zonked out. I ended up sharing a salt cap with one guy who looked very fit but he said he had come out very unprepared.

There are several aid stations along the way serving Gatorade and water. And there was a good assortment of snacks at the finish line. Race photos were included with the registration fee, so that was nice. I got a link to my photos within a week of the race.

Will definitely be doing this race again, and heartily recommend it for everyone. I was signed up for the 2020 race, but it was cancelled due to COVID. Now, I'm looking forward to the 2021 edition.