Eddie O from Lava 105.3 brought his sound system and music, and Jon Kunitake provided some musical entertainment as well with his violin. Many mahalos to each of them for making the event such a success!
On Saturday, Big Island Running Company set up a booth at the Kona Marathon expo.
Learning from our experience at the Big Island Marathon Expo, we didn't try to take any shoes and stuck with the basics - logo gear, nutritional products and, of course, Bodyglide! We also had the opportunity to keep the Kona store open while the expo was going on, since Jason stayed behind, while Michelle Whitford and I took over the expo. Mahalo to Bill and Kathy Harlan for helping us get set up in the morning; to Michelle Whitford for staffing the tent and to Sharron Faff for allowing us to take part in the event. Our spot was perfect and the weather was beautiful.
After a long day at the expo on Saturday, we were up early on Sunday morning for the race. Since we live less than a mile from the starting line, we were able to make it down there in plenty of time for the start of the marathon at 5:30 a.m. Our half marathon started at 6:00 a.m. with Frank Shorter sending us off. It was great to see all of our training group members out and ready to go.
As luck would have it, Sunday was a beautiful, clear day in Kona - no vog to speak of. Unfortunately, that also meant HOT! It wasn't too bad along Alii Drive, but the portions out past the Old Airport and Kona Commons were a little toasty (and, of course, the portions of the marathon on the highway). But from about half a mile before the turnaround and a mile after, the excitement was great. I was able to keep seeing all of our friends and running group participants.
That was also where I could see how Jason's race was going. When I ran past him, he was running neck and neck with Luis in third and fourth. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the finish, which I hear was great entertainment. Apparently Luis had put a little distance on Jason, but Jason surged right at the end and managed to beat Luis by one second right at the tape. But they both had great times of 1:16:05 and 1:16:06.
The next of our group behind them was Ray Whitford with a time of 1:37:39. We had a contest for our running group to see who could come closest to their predicted time. Ray finished nearly four minutes ahead of his prediction! I came in next, a little slower than I was hoping for, at 1:49:55. Once Jason and I came in, we were able to get pictures of most of our group members finishing. Here are their photos and their finishing times:
Well, he wasn't in our running group, but here is Frank Shorter finishing the 5K, right behind Carrie Bartsch.10K Finishers
Sandy Miller - 1:02:01 in the 10k.
Kristina Sawaya - 1:08:14 in the 10k.
Maggie Leite - 1:15:30 in the 10k.
Paul Incardona - 1:30:41 in the 10k (and age group winner!)
Jenni Rhodes - 1:37:59 in the 10KHalf Marathon Finishers
Eddie O - 1:55:09 (only 9 seconds off his predicted time!)
Megan Livingston - 1:55:49
Chitwin San Tun - 1:55:52
Gerd Weber - 1:56:31
Michael Traub - 1:56:43
Lisa Bryant - 1:58:35
Michelle Whitford - 1:59:33 (after working the expo and being injured for the month before the race!)
Nori Becker - 2:20:13
Peter Ballerini - 2:35:42
Mona Estrada and Rich Randazzo - 2:41:48
Marvis Hanano - 2:45:08 (21 minutes better than last year!)
Cherry Ward - 2:48:31
Laura Bollman - 2:49:11Our apologies to Vicky Akana (2:25:56) Barbara Hughes (2:51:39), Jackie Moore-Andresen (3:10:44), Jill Weber (3:15:39), Danny Jesser (4:03:50 in the marathon), Jon Kunitake (4:08:33 in the marathon) and anyone else that we missed with the camera! Congratulations to all participants and thanks as always to all the volunteers!
After the race, we hung around for awards and I even got to pass some out! Then it was time for the celebratory party at the Old Airport. It was a great afternoon hanging out with satisfied friends and replacing all those calories we burned off!
And it was all capped off with a lovely Kona sunset!
After the race, we hung around for awards and I even got to pass some out! Then it was time for the celebratory party at the Old Airport. It was a great afternoon hanging out with satisfied friends and replacing all those calories we burned off!
And it was all capped off with a lovely Kona sunset!
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