Lavaman Keauhou 2011

Yesterday was the 3rd year for Lavaman Keauhou - an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run). One of the great things about this race is the fact that it's local and they allow relays, so most people in town are either competing or know someone who is. This year was the first year that I've been part of a relay team and Jason's third year. Because of that, though, the number of pictures we were able to take suffered. Special thanks to Christine DeCarli who let me borrow some of her pictures for this post!

Defending husband and wife champions Penn Henderson and Rani Tanimoto were part of the race again this year. They had quite the cheering section with professional banners and all!


The race starts with the 1.5 K (.9 mile) swim in Keauhou Bay. This is one of the only races held down there, so it's a very different swim. At the pre-race meeting they mentioned that the swim course has depths of up to 125 feet! The other challenging part is that right about race time, the sun rises over Hualalai, creating some glare for the swimmers, but some beauty for the spectators.

Israel and Eddie O - 2/3 of the Lava 105 relay team - before the start.

This year, there was a wave start with the pros and relays starting first, followed three minutes later by the men and the women three minutes after that. First out of the water was Tim Marr, a professional triathlete from Oahu, followed closely by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen.

Both Jason and I were interested to see how our relay swimmers would do coming out the water. This year, Jason had the same relay team as last year, with Leahi Camacho as the swimmer, Gary Shields as the biker, and obviously Jason running. I was with a new team from Bianelli's - Malia Santos did the swim and George Goldstine did the bike. We knew Leahi would come out of the water fast, and she did, coming out ninth in 23:22.

Leahi Camacho

I had heard my swimmer was fast, but I hadn't even met her before the race, so I didn't know quite who to look for. I was pleasantly surprised to see the swimmer right behind Leahi had the number of my relay on her arm. She was out of the water in 23:26!

Malia Santos

Then George and Gary were off on the bike. Jason and I wanted to get back to transition pretty quickly so we could have time to warm up, so we headed back to the Keauhou Beach Resort as the bike portion started - with a killer climb up Kam III!

And that's where my picture taking stopped - I had to get serious about the run. Jason and I did a little warm up and then hung out in transition waiting for our bikers. Gary came in after a 1:02 bike and Jason was off to chase down a couple of people, including Tim Marr. George finished his bike in 1:21:58, and it was my turn to head out.

Albert Martinez heading into transition.

Garrett Oka in transition

That was one of the hardest run courses I have ever encountered. After a brief start, you immediately start to climb Alii Drive - a hill I try to avoid as much as possible. It gets a little better after that with some downhill portions into the Pit/End of the World. But then it goes offroad onto a lava rock trail. Unsure footing is not my strong suit, so it was a little slower going through there. After that portion, it's onto the golf course for most of the rest of the run. Lots of little rolling hills up and down. And for some reason, the whole place feels like a sauna. Of course that could have something to do with the fact we're running at 9 a.m.! It was a hot, brutal course.

Mercedes DeCarli coming into the finish area

Jason ended up making up some time on Tim Marr, but could never catch him, as Tim won the race overall. Jason's relay did come in next, making them the first place mixed relay team. For the men, Penn Henderson took second place and Benjamin Williams followed in third. On the ladies' side, Bree Wee was first, followed by Rae Bastoni and Rani Tanimoto. Our relay ended up in 6th place for the mixed relay, which was a pretty good result. Full results from the race are here.

As mentioned about, a lot of locals were in the race, so there were tons of people to cheer for. Congrats to everyone who participated!

Bryan Sawaya completes his first triathlon!

Awesome cheering section and some relay race participants!

Mike DeCarli placed 5th in his age group!

Relay team of Kris Whiting, Albert Martinez and Mercedes DeCarli

Two races are up this Sunday - the Run For Hope 5k/10k at the Four Seasons Hualalai and the Bieni Kohler-Johnson 5k on the HPA Campus in Waimea. We hope everyone comes out to participate in one of these great fundraising races!