The Odyssey--Does This Glad Bag Make Me Look Fat?

The site of the race start was an absolute zoo. Ala Moana Blvd. was packed, wall-to-wall with bodies. I had not seen such a crowd since New Year's eve on the streets of Pasadena waiting for the dawn and the start of the Rose parade. (BTW, that was many, many moons ago.)

It was around 4:15am, the dead of night, and a bit chilly, especially for Hawaii. As my brother, Paul, and I made our way forward, we noticed a Japanese woman wearing a huge garbage bag with holes for her arms. A little later, we saw a whole group of Japanese similarly clad. And as we scanned the scene, we realized that plastic Hefty bags were seemingly all the rage in Tokyo. Then I realized how smart (and probably experienced) they all were.

The plastic kept their bodies from getting too cold and were easily discarded once the race began. Unlike at some other organized races, in Honolulu there was no clothing transport system from the race start to the finish.

A disposable warm-up suit. Kind of gives the term shabby-chic a whole new meaning.