Infinite Pursuit: Hannah Otto vs. Mauna Kea

When it all comes down to turning the pedals toward a summit rising nearly 14,000 feet above you, you can only watch the numbers for so long. Eventually, your mind drifts back through years of pursuing a dream, through endless preparation, and through the moments that built on one another to bring you here. To this moment. To the reality of chasing the clock to the top of a volcano. 

For endurance athletes, getting to the finish line is the main objective, the point where effort turns into achievement. But the longer you spend chasing big goals, the more that line between preparation and completion starts to blur. The finish line comes, the clock stops, and yet something inside you wants more, not another result, but more of the process that got you there in the first place. For Hannah Otto, the pursuit has become the point. And on the slopes of Mauna Kea, that realization hit harder than any gradient ever could.

Mauna Kea Journal by Hannah Otto

I feel like I’ve entered into a part of my career where I’m starting to live out things that were once just dreams. I’ve been racing in endurance sports for over 20 years. At 30 years old, that’s over 2/3rds of my entire life. It’s been wild to watch as things that I once could only imagine, turn into reality. My dreams keep getting bigger and, somehow, the reality keeps exceeding them, even when it doesn’t look the way I imagined.

The Challenge

The Mauna Kea FKT features a 55 mile climb with 13,700 feet of elevation gain. It begins at the ocean (traditionally dipping your tire into the sea) and ends at the top of the volcano, just shy of 14,000 feet. Seven thousand feet of elevation come in the final 15 miles making the finish excruciatingly steep, reaching pitches of over 20% gradient. Four of the final miles are on soft and loose gravel road. For all of these reasons and more it’s considered one of the hardest climbs in the world.

All of these superlatives (tallest, hardest, etc) are what originally drew me to Mauna Kea, but once I started researching, I couldn't stop. When I select an FKT to pursue, I usually start with a few ideas and I see which one rises to the surface. Which idea am I researching the most, which route can I not stop thinking about? Before I knew it all of the tabs on my computer were reading Mauna Kea and I knew it was an itch I had to scratch.

The Leadup

Fast forward to October after a season of chasing races and results all over the World, after racing Addict Gravel RC and Spark RC in Bentonville at the finale of the Lifetime Grand Prix, I wasn’t done, I was headed straight to Hawaii, with a 3rd bike, one that I hadn’t raced all season: SCOTT Addict RC.

After arriving in Kona, it became one big whirlwind of preparation for the attempt. After months of research and preparation it felt bizarre to finally lay eyes on the climb and to finally see in real life what I’d been trying to anticipate through a screen. Two major elements stood out in the days leading into the attempt. The wind would be a massive challenge. Since the climb primarily points in one direction, a ripping head wind could be demoralizing and extremely detrimental to speed. Second, the gravel road would be a very significant part of the challenge. At only 4 miles long, I had underestimated how much impact it would have on the overall time. The rangers grade the gravel road twice a week and they informed me that they would be grading the road on Thursday afternoon and after that the dirt would be so loose that it would be hard to pass through. I had originally planned to do the attempt on Friday, but with this new information, we made the bold decision to move the attempt up one full day. It was go time.

The purpose-built climbing machine

There was one clear choice when Hannah selected the bike for her FKT attempt. With nearly 14,000 feet of climbing ahead of her, she needed a purpose-built machine for climbing, and the Addict RC was the perfect tool for the job. The production Addict RC can tip the scales at a scant 13 pounds, and Hannah’s custom built Addict RC 10 with Shimano and DT Swiss components — hit that target perfectly. The bike was ready, Hannah was prepared, and now it was time to face the volcano.

SCOTT Addict RC Pro: factory build

Time to Climb

On October 23rd as the sun’s first rays of light were peeking through the darkness, I stood on the beach with my bike. As I walked to the water for the ceremonial dipping of the tire to make it a true sea to summit, I was holding back tears. I suddenly felt transported back in time and I could feel the little girl inside of me who stood on so many triathlons start lines on the beach. I could feel the little girl who dreamed of huge adventures. She was smiling. The last thought I had before starting was, “I can’t believe I get to do this. I can’t believe I get to try.”

The initial miles went smoothly as I carefully followed the pacing plan my coach had laid out for me. I felt calm and controlled as the miles ticked by but the wind was building. Despite the raging headwind I was making good progress and at one point I was about 6 minutes ahead of the pace to beat the FKT. Everything was going to plan, until it started slipping away.

Six minutes ahead turned into three and by mile 40 the headwind had zapped all of my advantage. I had pushed up above my pacing plan and was crushing my numbers, but with the wind it just wasn’t enough. At mile 40 I was 3 minutes behind the FKT. I felt it all falling apart and I almost did too. The knot in my throat was building. The doubts in my head were screaming. Why did we move it up a day? Should we have waited? I travelled all the way here, I told everyone I could do this, the film crew had flown in to document this effort and now, I was falling short.

We decided to do this attempt as a supported effort since that’s what seems to be most common in road fastest known time pursuits, so all through this, Clayton and the crew were cheering me on at checkpoints. Then an important shift occurred. I realized that they believed in me, so now I just had to believe in myself.

  
As I made the big transition to the final 15 miles of steep roads, I committed to emptying the tank. It was now or never. Within just a few miles I was back ahead, I was on track to smash the record, and now it was a race to see how far I could push myself.

 
In the final miles the air was thin, breathing was harder, my muscles felt like they were ripping and I had shifted into my easiest gear a long time ago. It was hard and it felt like the summit couldn’t come soon enough but as it finally came into view, I almost didn’t want it. I wanted to keep going. I wanted the pursuit to continue. I wanted to keep growing, to keep learning, to keep surprising myself. The joy is in the pursuit, the victory is in the effort, and the time is just a part of the story.
 

On October 23, 2025, I set the women’s fastest known time on what is touted as “the hardest climb in the world” by nearly 30 minutes in a time of 5 hours, 43 minutes, and 50 seconds.

Read other Hannah Otto stories:

Hannah Otto Atttempts Fastest Known Time on the White Rim
SCOTT Athletes Shine at Little Sugar

Thank you to everyone for bringing this project to life!

– Directed & edited by: Sunn Kim
– Cinematography: Ian McMillan, Marcus Catlett, Sunn Kim
– Additional Cinematography: Danny Awang
– Photography: Erica Hinck