Jingle Bell Beach Run and Couch to 5k Recap

On the Sunday before Christmas, almost 600 runners gathered to run the 9th Annual Jingle Bell Beach Run 5k and 1-mile run.  As it has been in the past, this run was hosted by Rani and Penn Henderson. But they made some big improvements to the race this year, including closing the road for safety, providing the softest t-shirts ever and trucker hats, and adding a Santa Dash keiki run.  Of course those additions did necessitate changing from a free race to a paid one, but runners certainly got a lot of bang for their buck! In addition to all of the new perks, they also had the ever-popular costume contest, great prizes for the winners and tons of lucky number giveaways.

Part of the Couch to 5k Group

The Jingle Bell Beach Run 5k is also the culmination of our Couch to 5k training program.  This year Coach Maggie Leite led Dawn Barnes, Loretta Buasriyottiya, Emily Buasriyottiya, Rene Hanavan, Charo Aparicio Bill, KC Texiera, Claire Texiera and Valerie Strawn to fantastic finishes at the race.  Jim Lichnovsky and Nancy Taylor also completed the program, but were out of town for the actual race - we know they'll be doing one soon, though!  Congratulations to all of them on their accomplishment and especially to Valerie Strawn and KC Texiera who won awards for their consistency (Valerie) and improvement (KC)! 

Valerie Strawn

The winners of the 5k were Tommy Vonach in 16:12 and Bridget Pyke in 17:41, both setting new course records in the process! In the 1-mile run, Eric Miya blazed to a 5:06 win and Skyler Kiser was the first female finisher in 7:36.  Full race results are available on the race website.

Race Winners

After the race, the keiki lined up and ran either a 100 or 200 yard keiki dash, led by race winners and Santa!

But the best part of the event is seeing what costumes people come up with!

This year we saw Mary and Joseph:

The Grinch:

A snowflake:

And the eventual winner, a wrapped Christmas present (yes, they actually ran the race like that - and finished ahead of me!)

Special thanks to Penn and Rani as well as all of the volunteers.  Definitely put this race on your list if you're in town during the Christmas season next year! (More photos of the race are available here.)