A woman who was taking part in a race in Hawaii has opened up about her terrifying encounter with a "Nightmarcher demon".
I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway.
Kay Borleis, an art director and ultramarathon specialist, recounted her chilling experience during a grueling 100-mile race in Oahu on her blog, along with the terrifying footage she captured, believing she encountered a "Nightmarcher".
"To this day, we still don’t know what it was," referring to the alleged shadowy entity she encountered during the HURT 100-mile race in January 2019. Borleis wrote in her now-deleted blog post, cited by the New York Post.
The race involves a challenging 20-mile loop through Oahu’s Honolulu Mauka trails, which participants must complete five times.
Known for its brutal terrain, the race includes obstacles such as thick mud-caked roots, numerous water crossings, cliffs, and steep, rocky inclines. Borleis was making good progress until she suffered a foot injury during her second-to-last lap, forcing her to withdraw from the race.
After returning home and regrouping, Borleis' running partner, Cassie, sent her photos from the race, revealing an unexpected discovery. One of the live images captured a "dark figure dressed in a cloak moving past me while I was running," as described in the blog.
Footage accompanying the blog post shows Borleis jogging along a shadowy jungle trail when a mysterious figure emerges from the foliage and walks past her. Strangely, neither Borleis nor her running partner recalled encountering a person on that specific trail.
Borleis delved into the local legends surrounding the area and uncovered a chilling tale of Nightmarchers - ghosts of deceased Hawaiian warriors said to protect sacred individuals, and encountering them could lead to dire consequences, per Honolulu Magazine.
Borleis explained: "The reason why no one was on that part of the trail is because all runners had to run in a clockwise direction," adding: "And tourists weren’t out that early. We didn’t see anyone for hours while running together. So, we were — and still are — positive there was no one there."
According to Mysteries of Hawaii, Nightmarchers also go by the names of ‘Oi‘o, Na huaka‘i o ka Pō, Huaka‘i Pō, and Spirit Ranks.
The story of Nightmarchers contradicts Borleis' claim, as a Nightmarcher will never be seen alone as they march in a procession, and to see one alone would simply be to see a ghost.
Marching together, some people have described that the ground begins to shake, and there is a line of torch lights and flute music.
If you are unable to run from the Nightmarchers, you should lie on the ground and cover your head. You must then shut your eyes tight, chant your lineage, and pray that an ancestor walks among the dead to speak for you.
If there is nobody there to speak for you, then you may hear "O-ia!", which means your life is forfeit.
With this being said, Borleis probably just encountered someone who was out for a stroll.
