Hilo to Volcano Ultramarathon and Relay

This past weekend it was time again for the Hilo to Volcano 50K Ultramarathon and Relay.  Jason has participated in this event the last two years, and this year I joined in, too.  But only for the relay portion of the event.  After running that course, I have nothing but respect for those runners that complete the ultra by themselves (well, maybe I think they're a tad bit crazy, too!).  The course is all uphill - going from sea level in Hilo to approimately 4,000 feet above sea level in Volcano!

I've included some pictures in this post, both taken by me and some from the Big Island Road Runners.  Big Island Road Runners has a ton more photos here, so definitely check those out!
 
The ultramarathon starts at 6 a.m. at Coconut Island.  At that point, it's still dark out, so ultramarathoners are required to wear reflective vests and lights. This race grew enormously in the past year, up almost 50% over last year, with 40 individual finishers and 38 relay teams.

Ultramarathon start line. Photo by Big Island Road Runners.

After the ultrarunners head out, it's time for the relays at 6:30.  It's still pretty dark at that point, so the whole first leg of the relay is essentially in the dark.  My team, the Kona Wahines, was made up of me (first leg), Lokana Reed (second leg), and Maggie Leite (anchor leg).  Jason's Big Island Running Company team was Sal Salmi (first leg), Tim Urbine (second leg) and Jason on the last leg. 

Relay Start. Photo by Big Island Road Runners

The relays generally consist of three person teams, switching off at every even numbered mile marker.  So each relay member runs 5 2-mile legs.  They also allow super teams, which is anything over 3 runners.  The super teams can kind of make up their own rules for switching off, but they aren't eligible for awards.  As you can imagine, the relay exchanges are pretty crowded at the beginning of the race, but they begin to thin out as the race goes on.

Typical relay exchange point.

Lokana tagging off to teammate Maggie and her daughter Dominique (who also ran all of Maggie's legs for her longest run ever!).

But the relay exchange points are actually pretty fun.  You get to chat with the other teams as you wait for your runner.  We ended up leapfrogging quite a bit with another Kona team - Go!155! They'd be ahead at some exchanges and we'd beat them to others.  It certainly keeps things interesting.

Photo by Big Island Road Runners

One unknown for any race is always the weather.  In Hilo and Volcano you always worry about the rain.  But this year, the weather was perfect.  It was a little overcast in the beginning, but cleared up and was nice and sunny in Volcano.  And since you're up at elevation, the heat wasn't too bad, either.  We even got to see a couple of rainbows while out on the course.

Kona was very well represented in the race.  Below is a picture of Kona girl Jolene and her son getting ready to cross the finish line.  Jolene ran the entire distance and looked amazingly fresh the whole time! Congrats, Jolene! You are awesome!

 

Since we were out on the course, it was kind of hard to know what was going on in the race.  But Jason's relay team finished in second place behind Royal Flush.  And our team finished! Here we are getting ready to run across the finish line:

Kona Wahines - Melissa, Maggie and Lokana

Kona Wahines and K-Town Haoles

In the ultramarathon, David Carlsson was the first finisher in 4:08:24.  The first female finisher was Lisa Hadway in 5:21:34.  Joseph Wedemann (5:12:52) and Sally Marrack (5:49:48) took the men's and women's master's titles.

Full results from both races are below. 

Individuals						Pace
Plc	Name	Division		City, State	Time	(min/mi)
1	David Carlsson	<>		Honolulu, HI	4:08:24	8:00
2	Pascal Spino	<>		Vancouver, BC	4:15:13	8:13
3	Doug Andrews	<>		Kailua-Kona, HI	4:53:13	9:28
4	Timm Vedder	Open		Waipahu, HI	5:06:22	9:52
5	Joseph Wedemann	++Master++		Keaau, HI	5:12:52	10:04
6	Lisa Hadway	<>	F	Pepeekeo, HI	5:21:34	10:21
7	Victor Eisen	++Master++		Pahoa, HI	5:31:58	10:41
8	Sylvia Ravaglia	<>	F	Kamuela, HI	5:35:33	10:48
9	Susan Cordell	<>	F	Hilo, HI	5:40:37	10:58
10	Donald Andon	Open		Hilo, HI	5:41:26	10:59
11	Erol Ackdoe	++Master++		Paia, HI	5:42:13	11:01
12	Ferdinand Babas	Open		Hilo, HI	5:43:08	11:02
13	Amy Ray	Open	F	Hilo, HI	5:44:03	11:04
14	Sally Marrack	++Master++	F	Hilo, HI	5:49:48	11:16
15	Lyle Balingit	Open		Pepeekeo, HI	5:54:07	11:24
16	Bram Denhaan	Master		Haiku, HI	6:06:51	11:49
17	Cassidy Landes	Open	F	Kailua-Kona, HI	6:09:01	11:53
18	Dane Griffith	Open		Kailua-Kona, HI	6:27:41	12:29
19	Jolene Mears	Open	F	Kailua-Kona, HI	6:37:14	12:47
20	Rick Otani	Master		Hilo, HI	6:37:40	12:48
21	Gary Theriault	Master		Kailua-Kona, HI	6:38:04	12:49
22	David Hammes	Master		Hilo, HI	6:46:42	13:05
23	Victor Trevino	Open		Honolulu, HI	6:59:50	13:31
24	Anaid Azotla	Open	F	Honolulu, HI	6:59:51	13:31
25	Stan Fortuna, Jr	Master		Hilo, HI	7:08:25	13:47
26	Alison Mansfield	Open	F	Papaikou, HI	7:17:54	14:05
27	Harvey Nakasone	Master		Hilo, HI	7:17:54	14:05
28	Mark Lewis	Open		Hilo, HI	7:23:54	14:17
29	Marie Kuramoto	++Master++	F	Hilo, HI	7:32:52	14:35
30	Don Mitchell	Master		Hilo, HI	7:33:16	14:35
31	Les Martisko	Master		Pepeekeo, HI	7:46:13	15:01
32	Laurence Macon	Master		San Antonio, TX	7:47:52	15:04
33	Jeff Vieyra	Master		Lafayette, CA	7:47:52	15:04
34	Jim Simpson	Master		Huntington Beach, CA	7:47:52	15:04
35	Alfred Kohli	Master		Lomira, WI	8:04:34	15:36
36	Henry Rueden	Master		De Pere, WI	8:04:34	15:36
37	Peter Johnson	Open		Troy, MI	8:05:35	15:38
38	Lava People	Master		Kailua-Kona, HI	8:07:39	15:42
39	Frank Bartocci	Master		Rochester, MN	8:14:47	15:56
40	Eugene Bruckert	Master		Arlington Heights, IL	10:37:56	20:32
41	Michael Hasselbring	Master		Hawi, HI	DNF
42	Charlene Gaurano	Open	F	Waianae, HI	DNS

Relay					Pace
Plc	Name	Division	Runners	Time	(min/mi)
1	Royal Flush	<>	J. Pang, Z. Johnson, C. Gregory	3:22:33	6:31
2	Big Island Running Co.	Mens Open	J. Braswell, T. Urbine, S. Salmi	3:41:05	7:07
3	The Three Generations	Mens Open	S. Pavao, A. Langtry, L. Villena	3:51:58	7:28
4	Warriors 4 Life	Mens Open	D. Sato, J. Halford, J. Imai	3:59:06	7:42
5	Not Prepared But Kickass	<>	M. Romo, M. Dishman, A. Shiels	4:02:58	7:49
6	Hilo High	<>	S. Hunter, C. Garson-Shumway, K. Rapoza	4:14:17	8:11
7	Mana Wahine	<>	M. Caproni, S. Lyle, J. Jedlinsky	4:16:40	8:16
8	Coastbusters	Mens Open	G. Muder, Z. Burley, J. Russell	4:22:12	8:26
9	Maka Nui	Womens Open	L. Solodky, S. Kettwich, S. Kettwich	4:24:34	8:31
10	No Name Given	Womens Open	M. Aiona, E. Cordeiro, D. Aiona	4:25:55	8:34
11	Makalakaz	High School	M. Cruz, R. Grothmann, K. Grothmann	4:34:47	8:50
12	The Prefontaines	Womens Open	J. Bledsoe, J. Lozano, S. Adams	4:37:41	8:56
13	Tres Coaches	Womens Open	L. Hunter, M. Tominaga, D. Wong Yuen	4:39:27	8:59
14	Where's the Lava?	Super Team	S. Pratt, P. Ferrington, K. Winters, J. Kirkwood	4:39:39	9:00
15	Angry Birds	Mens Open	C. LaBrie, M. Daly, K. Fuchigami	4:40:47	9:02
16	Kitty	Super Team	D. Rances, S. Rances, G. Wilson, S. Ombac, T. Soares	4:42:59	9:07
17	UHH W-XC #2	Womens Open	J. Wood, D. Thornton, N. Hagemann	4:45:52	9:12
18	Old Goats	<>	D. Blinn, C. Bostwick, J. Tuscany	4:46:15	9:13
19	Westfall Drywall	Mens Open	C. Westfall, C. Westfall, R. Van Geen	4:47:02	9:14
20	Tehero's #1	Mixed	C. Tehero, D. Tehero, R. Tehero	4:47:16	9:15
21	Team Toe Jammers	Mixed	D. Partin, A. Partin, G. Loya	4:48:07	9:16
22	Team Corona	Mixed	J. Natividad, L. Natividad, T. Kawahara	4:50:40	9:22
23	Volcano Girls	Womens Open	S. Bakken, D. Ohoru, J. Orr	4:51:23	9:23
24	Diva Sistaz	<>	F. Lerand, A. Hess, M. Cooke	5:00:44	9:41
25	K-Town Haoles	Mixed	N. Mailhot, B. Mailhot, T. Reed	5:05:54	9:51
26	Team Hoku	Mixed	W. Minor, S. Nixon, B. Greineisen	5:06:05	9:51
27	Team Blue	Mens Masters	D. Berman, J. Nixon, M. Gordon	5:06:51	9:53
28	Team Hale	Mixed	D. Hale, K. Hale	5:11:41	10:02
29	2 Tehero's and 1 Pacheco	Mixed	F. Tehero, T. Tehero, D. Pacheco	5:19:27	10:17
30	Four Seasons	Super Team	C. Conway, G. Pavey, R. Puaokalani, S. Chamberlain	5:21:57	10:22
31	Bayfront Babes	Womens Masters	D. Crutchfield, L. Otani, K. Furumo	5:24:26	10:26
32	We R 174 Proof	Womens Masters	L. Deehr, P. Everett, M. Anderson	5:25:06	10:28
33	Team Elliot	Mixed	J. Elliot, S. Elliot	5:30:04	10:37
34	SWAT	Super Team	L. Vos, M. Drutar, F. Rhoads, P. Henderson	5:33:59	10:45
35	Hot Lava Ladies	Womens Open	L. Englund, B. Anderson	5:42:04	11:01
36	Go! 155!	Womens Masters	S. Shepherd, R. Hale, J. Crawford	5:44:51	11:06
37	Kona Wahines	Womens Open	M. Leite, L. Reed, M. Braswell	5:49:29	11:15
38	Two Beauties and a Beast	Mixed	L. Montizor, Z. Montizor, K. Galloway	6:03:06	11:41

Congratulations to all of the finishers and huge mahalos to the Big Island Road Runners, especially Alan Ryan, Keith Marrack and Dano Banks who put on this great race.  Also, special thanks to Brittany Leite for being our awesome driver for the race!  We can't wait until next year!