Running Big with the Big Island Running Co.: Bike Works Beach 'N Sports 5K/10K

This past weekend there were a couple of fun events going on on the Big Island. First on Saturday was the King's Swim, a 1.2 mile swim from the Kailua Pier to the beach in front of the King Kam hotel. Unfortunately, I chickened out on swimming it this year and think I really missed out. I will definitely be out there next year. From what I hear, some of the usual suspects had really good swims, including Nick Garrett, Noe Vargas, Madison Hauanio, and Bree Wee.

Then on Sunday morning, there was a 5K/10K in Waikoloa to celebrate the opening of Bike Works' new store Bike Works Beach 'N Sports in the Queens' Marketplace. Jason and I both opted to run the 10K, so we didn't get any pictures of the actual race. In the men's 10K race, two pro triathletes took home top honors as Mark Twelsiek won in 35:52 followed by Ian Mikelson in 37:49. Jason came in third with a time of 38:25. In the women's 10K race, Bree Wee won easily with a time of 39:54, followed by Melanie Aiona in 45:22 and Andrea Bess in 47:06. I finished in 7th place for the women, but realized how tough the 30-39 age group is - I finished 6th in my age group! Full results for the 10K are here.

In the 5K, Garrett Pringlaw came in first with a time of 17:58, followed by Alan Ryan at 18:50 and Lyman Perry at 18:54. For the women's 5K, it was Nicole Lane coming in first at 20:16, with Rani Tanimoto (20:36) and Melanie Yu (22:36) taking second and third. Full results for the 5K are here.

While there was some speculation that the 10K course was a little bit long, Bike Works put on a great race. In addition to the prizes for the top two winners, there were also several door prizes and a drawing for some great stuff - like a new bike, a night at the Hilton and gift certificates. Unfortunately we didn't win anything, but had a great time anyway.

The only photos of the event I was able to get were of some of the age group winners, which are below. Several of them are members of our running group!