Christmas in Kona - Peaman's Birthday Bonanza!

First of all, we'd like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas from Big Island Running Company.  We hope everyone had safe and happy holidays yesterday.  We were very happy to see some of our friends at Peaman's Birthday Bonanza, a 1/2 mile swim and a 3.9 mile run.  The race was pretty well attended for taking place on Christmas morning.  Some of the usual attendees were missing (they must have had too many presents to open), but there were plenty of happy kids and adults there.

Marissa and Jon

Although the morning was a little chilly (for Kona), the water was perfect.  Relatively calm and clear and not too cold once you got going.  The pier received nice, new buoys last week, so the swim markings and sighting were great! I was a little worried about the swim, since I haven't swam in the ocean since the last Peaman event. But it turned out ok and I finished in just over 20 minutes.

After the transition, it was out on the run course, with my super-pacer, Jason.  As I expected, he kept picking out people for me to try to pass.  There was one guy in particular who we had our sights on for a long time.  I finally got past him on the way out, but then I stopped for water at the turnaround and he scooted past me again.  So for most of the 2 miles back, we had our eye on him again.  Coming past Hale Halawai, we finally were able to make the pass. But I don't know if I would have been able to run that hard if Jason wasn't running next to me.  Or maybe more accurately running several paces ahead of me, then slowing down so I could catch up.

My run time came in just under 30 minutes, for a total time of 51:36, about a minute faster than last year.  I'm not sure whether the improvement was on the swim or the run, but either way I'll take it.

Cowman (without horns)

Todd Smith was the day's winner with a time of 38:45.  Karlyn Pipes-Nielsen came in second overall and first for the ladies with a time of 39:35.  Rani Tanimoto took third with a time of 41:18. Tony Leonardini and Sam Brown took fourth and fifth with times of 41:55 and 42:32 respectively. Full results are available here.


Following the athletic portion of the morning, it was on to the gift giving and receiving.  This time there were lots of great prizes following the race.  Nori Becker won a foot massager! 

The Perpetual Pea was also passed on to the owners of Ultimate Burger for their support of the peamania.

Perpetual Pea Recipient

Then it was back home to open more gifts, spend time with family or head to church.  We hope everyone had a great Christmas and celebrates a safe New Year this weekend!