Tsunami 2011, Run for Hops and Spring Fling Biathlon

I've been meaning to put a post up about the events of the past weekend, but haven't been able to get to it until now. It was a very eventful weekend, to say the least. As Jason and I were heading to bed on Thursday night, we heard the emergency warning system on our neighbor's tv. We assumed that it was some sort of flash flood warning or something and didn't think too much about it. As Jason turned on his iPod, though, he heard that the warning was actually for a tsunami. (Thanks, mom and dad for the iPod with a radio!) So we scrambled to run down to the store and grab some of the important items, such as our computer and some files. Having been through the drill once before, we were much more efficient this time.

Then it was back home to wait it out. Luckily we live at a high enough elevation where we barely even heard the tsunami sirens. Jason slept through the night while I watched the news coverage and dozed off and on. Based on the coverage from Oahu, it seemed like nothing much happened in Hawaii. But then I got a call from my mom who had seen pictures of the tsunami destroying Alii Drive. By that point it was about 7 a.m., so we drove down to see what had happened and to get a little run in. Apparently the big waves to hit Kona were occurring around that time, but we didn't really see anything. They had the roads blocked off and wouldn't let anyone down on to Alii Drive, including to our store. But from what we could tell, our store looked safe.

After heading home for a short nap, we returned to the store around 1 p.m. to find no damage at all. We were very lucky and were able to open up that afternoon. However, we took some walks down to the end of Alii Drive by the pier to see where the real destruction was. The damage was a lot worse than I expected. Here are some photos of the damage on Friday afternoon:

Plates and other debris in front of Bubba Gump's. They were open later that weekend.

This is the view we usually get for the finish of the Peaman races, but the sidewalk and seawall were torn up.

A huge tire on the beach that probably used to be attached to the pier.

Cracked asphalt on the pier where the Peaman transition areas are usually set up.

A huge piece of asphalt that was ripped off the pier, largely intact.

The King Kamehameha Beach Hotel luau stage, with an outrigger on it.

A broken canoe.

Amazingly, many of the damaged shops began to open over the weekend and the road repairs are well underway. Today they were repaving the sidewalk and a ripped up portion of Alii Drive. The pier is under review and hopefully it will be able to accommodate the cruise ship passengers next week. It is amazing how the town is pulling together to get everything cleaned up. We hope everyone affected is able to come back better than before.

On Saturday morning, the Run for Hops went on as scheduled. These 5k and 10k races benefit PATH, People's Advocacy for Trails - Hawaii and are always popular events. This year, they attracted almost 400 runners. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any photos as I was working the registration table and then directing runners on the course.

Full results from the races are available here. Matthew Giesfeldt from Madison, Wisconsin won the 10k with a time of 35:02, followed by locals Sam Corace (36:49) and Alan Ryan (37:30). The ladies' 10k winner was Jean-Marie DuPont of Canby, Oregon with a time of 42:30. Shannon Donley from Anchorage, Alaska finished second in a time of 42:53 and Kailua-Kona resident Maggie Grenier came in third with a time of 43:44.

In the 5k, Jason came in first in a time of 16:30, followed by Karl Moats in 17:22 and Cody Bergfalk in 17:59. Bree Wee won the ladies 5k and came in one second ahead of Cody in a time of 17:58. Rani Tanimoto was second in 18:24, and Brooke Myers took third in a time of 20:32.

Later in the day, the Brewer's Fest was held at the Kona Brewery after relocating from the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel's luau grounds due to the tsunami. From what I hear, it was an excellent venue and everyone worked hard on short notice to keep the event top-notch.

On Sunday morning, Kealakehe High School senior Geoff Whitener hosted a swim/run event, the Spring Time Biathlon at the Kailua Pier for his senior project. There was a little uncertainty as to how the event would go off with the water still a little stirred up from the tsunami. But plenty of people braved the ocean and completed the 1/3 mile swim. Even more people completed the 2 mile run, even though Alii Drive was still ripped up. Full results are here.

Chris Prater finished first in the full event with a time of 24:26. Nicholas Stelfox came in second in 25:39 and Lori Montgomery finished third in 25:58. I decided not to swim that day, but instead did a relay with one of the fast, young swimmers on the island, Marissa Bryant-Manago. Although our results didn't make the paper, we were the first relay to finish in a time of 22:19. Congratulations to Geoff for putting on a great event, especially with all the uncertainty surrounding it after the events of Friday.

Overall, it was a full, fun weekend of activities that made me realize how lucky we are to live here. Of course, our thoughts were and continue to be with those in Japan and those still trying to clean up here. This weekend to head to Hilo for the Big Island International Marathon, as well as the expo on Saturday afternoon. They are accepting donations for Japan relief efforts at the expo and Big Island Running Company will donate a portion of its sales from the expo to that fund. We hope to see many of you out there!