February's Kickoff

While the pro football season was winding to a close last Sunday with the Super Bowl, local athletes were kicking off a busy month of events in Kona.  Two events were held simultaneously last weekend before all the Super Bowl parties got underway.

At the pier, triathletes gathered for Team Mango's Springtime Triathlon, a 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 6 mile run.  The bike was three loops of the hilly course that we covered a couple weeks ago at Team Mango's Super Sprint Triathlon.  Then the run was one loop of that same hilly course.  At the end of the event, Thomas Vonach was first with an overall time of 1:25:56.  Kym Kiser was the sole woman to complete the course in a time of 1:44:59.  Unfortunately the other female race participant, Ricci Racela, had a bike wreck mid-race so we wish her a speedy recovery.  Full results from the race are available here.


At the same time, runners gathered north of town for the annual Strang Super Bowl Sunday 1/2 Marathon and Pick-up Run.  The unofficial first starting point was the Four Seasons where four individuals ran all the way into town to Yoga Hale for a 16.25 mile run.  Congrats to Brooke Myers, Scott Jewsbury, Jeff Strang and Jessica Robinson for completing that long run!

16.25 Mile
Brooke Myers 2:16
Scott Jewsbury 2:17
Jeff Strang 2:25
Jessica (& Wyatt) Robinson 2:40

Photo by Dana Strang

A short while later, a little larger group gathered at Kua Bay for a 13.1 mile run into town.  This is the group I joined up with, along with Chitwin San Tun and John Ferdico.  After a slightly fast start, Chitwin and I slowed it down (and I dragged quite a bit by the end) to finish in 1:51.  My stated goal before the run was to at least finish under 2 hours, so that goal was accomplished! Congrats to Daniel Hodel and Julie Curwin for their first place finishes and to Kevin Lannen and Joe Piekarski for setting new PRs!

Photo by Dana Strang

13.1 Mile
Daniel Hodel 1:35
Chris Milburn 1:40
Julie Curwin 1:40
Stephen Cosgrove 1:40
Jesse Palema 1:41
John Ferdico 1:44
Jeni Winegarner 1:44
Kevin Lannen 1:46
Joe Piekarski 1:50 (PR)
Melissa Braswell 1:51
Chitwin Santun 1:51
Cassidy Landes 1:52
Nadia Stanis 1:57
Tiffany Lindsey 2:03
Raul Ramirez 2:03
Martin Evangelista 2:06
Wendy DeWeese 2:13
Colin Whiting 2:13

Another group started their 8-mile run at Kaiminani before following the same route back into town. Andrew Delos Santos and Kerstin Busse were the first finishers in that distance.

8 mile
Andrew Delos Santos 1:04
Kerstin Busse 1:04
Vicki Brasher 1:08
Jenna Fear 1:09
Rockey Shorey 1:10
Hazel Brackett 1:11
Diana Trevino 1:14
Rebecca Dewhirst 1:20
Cliff Acheson 1:20
Ryan Nuckols 1:26
Michael Traub 1:27
Mike Drutar 1:27
Lisa Vos 1:27
Monica Scheel 1:27
Maria Hillman 1:27
Jess Knudson 1:27
Patty Ferrington 1:40
Angee (& Kids - plural) Lincoln 1:41

A couple of others joined in at different distances:

6.2 mile
Lani Kai Lindsey 1:08 (First ever 10k!)

4 mile
Joni Loando 54:00

Stevie (& Emmy) Strang 1:27

This was a really fun event and definitely something different.  I never realized how many hills there were running in that way! Those little coolers of water along the way were definitely a nice, welcome surprise.  Thanks to Jeff and Dana Strang for hosting this, along with the Mullaheys and Janet Miller (and I'm sure many others) for helping out with the event.   

Up this weekend is Team Mango's Monster and Mini-Monster Triathlons. The Monster race is a full Ironman distance race with a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.  The Mini-Monster is half the distance of the Monster with a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Relays are allowed, so look for Jason and I out there, along with our super swimmer Sarah Chang! To do this race, you must register and pick up your packet at Alii Gardens Marketplace by tomorrow (Saturday). I also heard they are still looking for volunteers, so if you are interested, contact Carl Koomoa at teammangoraces@aol.com.