2009 Jingle Bell Run

Sunday was a great Christmas event in Kona - the 5th Annual Jingle Bell Run. Hosted by Rani "The Roadrunner" Tanimoto and Gene "The Turtle" Powers, the 5k and 1 mile races ran along Alii Drive and was attended by over 200 holiday revelers, who were encouraged to dress in festive holiday gear.

Similar to many other events in Kona, there was no entry fee, but participants were encouraged to make a donation to the organization that the race benefits with its special recognition award. This year, that group was PATH (People's Advocacy for Trails Hawaii), which helps create a safe atmosphere on the Big Island for all runners, walkers, bikers and other pedestrians.

2009 Jingle Bell Run (Photos by Jim Tilley)

The men's race was extremely close, with Luis De La Torre beating Dan Olmstead by 2 seconds for the win (16:38 and 16:40, respectively). The women's race was won in 18:50 by Breanna Strenk, followed by Nicole Crawford in 20:04. The top ten men's and women's finishers won Kona coffee donated by Jon Kunitake and Kunitake Farms.

Rani Tanimoto announces the award winners (Photo by Jim Tilley)

The 1-mile event was won by keiki Ziggy Bartholomy with a fast time of 6:36 and the first keiki female finisher was Alice Shepherd in 8:03. The top five male and female finishers of the mile event won awards donated from local businesses. Full race results are available here: http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2009/12/21/sports/local_sports/sports01.txt.

As mentioned above, participants were encouraged to wear holiday attire, with the top costumes winning awards. There were several great outfits to choose from!


And if all those awards weren't enough, there were also raffle drawings with giveaways donated from local businesses again, including Healing Island Massage, Fairwinds snorkel cruises, Royal Kona Resort, Big Island Grill and several others. Unfortunately we weren't lucky enough to win anything in the raffle this time around, but since I won something at the Wobble & Gobble I can't really complain.

By this point, the weather had turned from another lovely Kona morning to a threatening downpour, including a waterspout over the ocean.

Waterspout in Kona (Photo by Jim Tilley)

Unfortunately things had to get wrapped up pretty quickly, but all in all it was a great way to celebrate the holidays. Thanks to Rani and Gene for putting on such a great holiday event! And thanks to Ray and Michelle Whitford and Jim Tilley for providing some photos of the race!

Up next is Peaman's Birthday Bash next Sunday morning. I get to be the guinea pig and try out our first ever swim/run duathlon. Should be interesting!