The race starts out with a swim in Keauhou Bay. The other nice thing about the race for us this year was that the start was less than half a mile from our apartment. So we took a nice leisurely walk to the start, passing through T1 as we went.
In addition to all of the individual athletes, this year there were 31 relay teams in the event as well. Jason was recruited for a relay team with high school swimmer Leahi Camacho and local cycling legend Gary Shields. Although Jason had a bum knee the week before and Gary was feeling a little bit under the weather, they were aiming for the win. (My job for the day was photographer. I took a lot more pictures than I can put on the blog, so you can find them all here.)
So Leahi took to the water with all the other swimmers and relay teams. The high school girls are some of the fastest swimmers on the island, so we knew she'd be one of the first people coming in. First out of the water was JP Friend, the swim relay member for Bike Works' men's relay team.
A couple of other people followed after him and about a minute later, Leahi came in, fourth out of the water!
She tagged off to Gary who took off on the bike leg. After watching her come out of the water, we started walking back up the hill so that Jason could head to the run start and I could take some pictures of the bikers. Before we made it too far, we had to stop and snap a picture of the sign Chitwin's kids made for him:
I love seeing how supportive all the families are of their moms, dads, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, etc. when they are out racing!From Keauhou Bay, the cyclists had to climb all the way out and up King Kamehameha III Road - a brutal 1+ mile climb. They then headed on Kuakini/Queen K to the Natural Energy Lab and back to the Keauhou Beach Resort via Alii Drive. The pictures I got of the bike course were at the start of the great climb up King Kam III:
Eddie O (on the left) was the bike leg for Lava 105.3's relay team. 
Jessica Abner - she finished second in her age group!
Jim Moore
Michael TraubAfter I finished taking pictures of the bikers, I headed down to Keauhou Beach Resort to watch the bike-run transition. I knew Gary would be one of the first few bikers in, and I had to make sure I made it in time. Shortly after I arrived, Penn Henderson came flying in on the bike:
A few minutes later (which seemed like an eternity), other riders starting trickling in. Gary was the second one to come in:
So Jason headed off on the run. The next group of riders in were Luis De La Torre and Sam Corace. They were neck and neck, as you can see from their picture coming out of transition:
I was able to snap more pictures of runners coming out of transition, however, the biggest problem is that they all have porta-potties or dumpsters in the background! The spectator area was definitely not set up to capture good pictures at that part of the course. So after a while of the non-scenic photos, I started heading to the finish line to catch the winners. I was taking my time, chatting with people and not paying strict attention to the time. Jason was pretty far behind Penn when they left the transition area, so I didn't think he would catch him. But when I was about 50 yards from the finish line, I heard the announcer announce the first runner in - and it was Jason! I had to sprint to get in a position to get this picture:
So their relay team came in first! Here's a picture of the trio (I think Jason would like to apologize to Leahi for having to stand next to his sweaty, stinky body right after the race finished):
Less than a minute later, Penn came across the line as the individual winner! He had a great race all around and is looking to be in good shape for Ironman.
Next in was Luis De La Torre, who did manage to catch Sam Corace on the run. Sam finished in fourth, with Greg Price coming in third. As more men and more relay teams came across the wait was on to see who would be the women's winner. At the transition area, Rani Tanimoto was in first place, followed closely behind by Andrea Bess. But the run is Rani's strong portion and she pulled away for the win:
After she won, we heard the good news that Penn and Rani had recently gotten married. So the newlyweds swept the race. Congratulations to both of them for a great race and for their marriage!
Andrea Bess held on for second place, with Rebecca McKee finishing third.
Andrea Bess
In the relay, the Bike Works' teams won both the men's and women's divisions. The Lava 105.3 team also won the special (self-appointed) media division). Full results from all the races are available at lavamantriathlon.com.
For the next hour or so, I hung around the finish line, trying to get good pictures of the finishers. Here are some:
Kris Kiser, followed closely by...
his wife, Kym Kiser!
Allison Alterman, winner of the 16-19 age group
Bill Nicot, part of a mixed relay.
Dene Sturm
That headdress had to be hot on the run.
Charlie Camacho (Leahi's father) completed the race individually.
Danny Jesser, Lava 105.3's relay runner
The sign must have worked! Chitwin finishes the race.
A few minutes later (which seemed like an eternity), other riders starting trickling in. Gary was the second one to come in:
So Jason headed off on the run. The next group of riders in were Luis De La Torre and Sam Corace. They were neck and neck, as you can see from their picture coming out of transition:
I was able to snap more pictures of runners coming out of transition, however, the biggest problem is that they all have porta-potties or dumpsters in the background! The spectator area was definitely not set up to capture good pictures at that part of the course. So after a while of the non-scenic photos, I started heading to the finish line to catch the winners. I was taking my time, chatting with people and not paying strict attention to the time. Jason was pretty far behind Penn when they left the transition area, so I didn't think he would catch him. But when I was about 50 yards from the finish line, I heard the announcer announce the first runner in - and it was Jason! I had to sprint to get in a position to get this picture:
So their relay team came in first! Here's a picture of the trio (I think Jason would like to apologize to Leahi for having to stand next to his sweaty, stinky body right after the race finished):
Less than a minute later, Penn came across the line as the individual winner! He had a great race all around and is looking to be in good shape for Ironman.
Next in was Luis De La Torre, who did manage to catch Sam Corace on the run. Sam finished in fourth, with Greg Price coming in third. As more men and more relay teams came across the wait was on to see who would be the women's winner. At the transition area, Rani Tanimoto was in first place, followed closely behind by Andrea Bess. But the run is Rani's strong portion and she pulled away for the win:
After she won, we heard the good news that Penn and Rani had recently gotten married. So the newlyweds swept the race. Congratulations to both of them for a great race and for their marriage!Andrea Bess held on for second place, with Rebecca McKee finishing third.
Andrea BessIn the relay, the Bike Works' teams won both the men's and women's divisions. The Lava 105.3 team also won the special (self-appointed) media division). Full results from all the races are available at lavamantriathlon.com.
For the next hour or so, I hung around the finish line, trying to get good pictures of the finishers. Here are some:
Kris Kiser, followed closely by...
his wife, Kym Kiser!
Allison Alterman, winner of the 16-19 age group
Bill Nicot, part of a mixed relay.
Dene Sturm
That headdress had to be hot on the run. 
Charlie Camacho (Leahi's father) completed the race individually.
Danny Jesser, Lava 105.3's relay runner
The sign must have worked! Chitwin finishes the race. Congratulations to all participants! Up next is the Run for Hope, this Saturday morning (September 4) at 7 a.m. at the Four Seasons Hualalai. I hear this is a beautiful race, with an exceptional post-race party and breakfast. Plus, proceeds benefit a good cause - cancer research in Hawaii. We'll be at the race, so there will NOT be a group run this weekend. Hopefully we'll see you at the Run for Hope!
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