Tomorrow, a different ilk of trekkies will say goodbye to an old friend who helped bring them all together. The Tantalus Trek will bow out after 14 years of turning people on to the sport of trail running.

The Tantalus Trek winds through 10-plus miles of pretty Makiki forest, in a figure-8. Runners also can choose the more advanced 50-kilometer Triple Trek, which loops the same path, and isn't going away.

"(The Tantalus Trek) has achieved its goal of getting people interested in Hawai'i's trails," said P.J. Salmonson, one of the event's organizers. "And we kind of had our hands full with our other races."

P.J., her husband John Salmon-son, and two other couples comprise the brain trust of Hawaiian Ultra Running Team (HURT), which also produces several other annual runs locally. Although this year's crop of about 70 to 80 registered Tantalus Trekkers is slightly less than last year's, there remains a vital core group of trail-running enthusiasts.

Last year, HURT established the Trail Series, with six races at various state trails on O'ahu.

The series starts out with 5-, 10-, and 20-mile events, culminating in a challenging 12-hour, steep Tantalus loop. Along the way, participants are treated to spectacular views at Ka'ena Point, Royal Summit, Waimanalo and Makiki.

"Beautiful," George Ann Skandis said of the views. While Skandis has run marathons and logs about 35 miles a week on flat surfaces, it wasn't until last year's trek that she experienced trail running. "It was beautiful, with beautiful surroundings, and I had so much fun — more fun than any race I've run."

"Drop dead gorgeous," said Mike Garcia, who has run trails in Hawai'i and on the Mainland since 1978. "We recently ran up above Dillingham Airfield (near Ka'ena Point), and the trail had just been groomed."

P.J. Salmonson said the trail series is a great way to start trail running. "A lot of people come out to run who have never been to any of the trails before," she said. Her own trail-running odyssey — and those of her fellow HURT founders — began 25 years ago.

"A bunch of us were members of the old O'ahu Athletic Club," she said. "John (her husband) had done some marathons, so we were relying on him to give us training for our first regular, four-hour marathon. Then, the next year John did the Run to the Sun (from sea level, up Haleakala). He was so excited that he talked us into doing it."

Said Garcia: "John is an excellent motivator. He likes to put on what is supposed to be a simple group run and turn it into an adventure."

The group began to take up to three Mainland trips a year, participating in trail adventures that grew more and more ambitious.

"P.J. and I have run about 15 100-mile trail runs each," John Salmonson said. "In fact, we were married after running 25 hours, and I carried her across the finish line.

"We do it because if you can do that, you can do anything. One-hundred miles is a microcosm of life. During your run, you go through a lot of down times, psychological and physiological changes. And if you can endure them, you've got the world by the tail."

Not all trail runs are ultra marathons. Smaller tracks can be uplifting, too. Eventually, the Salmonsons, Randy and Priscilla Havre, and Eric and Millie Schatz collaborated on a local race — the Tantalus Trek — to share their joy with fellow Islanders. It didn't take long for the sport's numerous benefits to catch on.

"I think it's the camaraderie of being out there with like-minded people," Garcia said. "And you have a chance to see parts of Hawai'i that most people don't get to see."

Then there are the health benefits. Although its cardiovascular rewards are virtually the same as those of flat-surface running, trail running affects different muscles.

"When you run on flat surfaces, you exercise forward moving muscles, but on trails, the lateral, stabilizing muscles that help your ankle, foot and knee get a workout," said Dr. Bernard Portner, a Honolulu sports medicine specialist.

"After the Trek, I could feel a burn in my quadriceps," Skandis said. "I don't usually, after my flat-surface runs."

It seems counterintuitive, but all that high-stepping and bending is actually good for the joints, too.

"People used to think arthritis was a wear-and-tear process, in which your joints deteriorated with use," Portner said. "But as it turns out, the more you use your joints, the less likely you are to experience joint deterioration."

However, he cautioned that there are some risks along with the rewards. Running through injury-related pain can make any existing tears of joints and muscle tissue worse. And when those same lateral movements meet Hawai'i's shifty terrain, it can be particularly dangerous.

"A lot of people fall and twist ankles," Portner said. "Trail running requires skills—not just endurance, but billy goat skills."