Honoka'a 5k, Half Marathon and 30k

A week and a half ago, several of our Kona runners made the trek up to the Hamakua Coast to run in the first annual Honoka'a 5k, Half Marathon and 30k, a benefit for the Brantley Center. Race Director Steve Pavao timed these races so that people training for the Honolulu Marathon in December could fit in a good training race or long run. 

Race participants with race director Steve Pavao

For a first year event, there was really a good turnout.  All distances started at the same time and ran out to the highway towards Waipio Valley.  The challenge to this course is that the first half of all of the distances was downhill and the second half was mostly uphill.  Hopefully most people realized that and were able to conserve some energy for the second half, but I'm sure times were slower than usual for these distances.  In the 5k, Rob Van Geen took first place in 23:25 and Lorri Hays was third overall and first for the women in 25:36. Full results from the 5k are available here.

Race Winners Rob Van Geen and Ellis Andrews

The half marathon kept continuing on at a pretty good pace on the downhill before hitting the turnaround before Waipio.   From my spot, I was happy to see several Big Island Running Company runners in their Run Big shirts leading the race.  The men's winner was Ellis Andrews (1:41:01) who will be competing in this year's Ultraman World Championships, followed by John Ferdico (1:42:10) and then Chico Barrios (1:44:20).

Second place in the half - John Ferdico

Third place - Orestes "Chico" Barrios

I ended up in sixth overall and first female with a time of (1:52:01), not quite the time I was looking for, but ok for this challenging course.  And of course I kept up my half marathon tradition of coming in just a few seconds over a time (:01) instead of just under (:59).

Me and Race Director Steve Pavao

Several other runners also represented Kona and Big Island Running Company well, winning awards for their age groups, including Lisa Bryant, Sandi Shepherd, Jon Kunitake, Linden Villena, Ricci Racela, and Maggie Murphy. Full results from the half marathon are available here.

Nate (left) and Donna (second place female in half marathon)

In addition, Nate Stanis ran the half marathon distance in the middle of her quest to run around the island, which she just completed yesterday. You can read about her journey on her blog.

Jon Kunitake and DJ Blinn clowning for the camera

Thirteen runners continued along to Waipio Valley and tackled the 30k distance.  In addition to running to Waipio Valley, they also had to do an approximately three mile loop in Honoka'a after coming by the finish line for the first time.

Chris Gregory was the men's winner in the 30k with a time of 2:12:02 and Kona runner Julia Crawford was the women's winner with a time of 3:25:36.  Full results from the 30k are available here.

Chris Gregory

Julia Crawford

Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped make this first time race a great one.  We'll hope to be back next year - and maybe train a little more for those hills!