2013 Honoka'a Runs - 5k, Half Marathon and 30K

Last weekend was the second annual Honoka'a Runs, including a 5k, half marathon and Waipio Challenge 30K. Last year I was able to run this race as part of my training for the Honolulu Marathon.  Unfortunately this year I've been sidelined by plantar fasciitis and wasn't able to make a return.  But luckily John Ferdico and Chico headed up to run and document the event for us!  More photos from the race are available here.

Last year's 5k winner Rob Van Geen supporting the race.

The course for these races starts at the Honoka'a Sports Complex and runs the road out toward Waipio Valley.  As we found last year, that road is downhill leaving Honoka'a and of course then all uphill on the second half of the runs.  So this run is challenging and not the fastest one on the island!

For the 5k, Nemanja Jovanovic took first place in 20:35, followed by Patrick Baker in 20:58.  Hauoli Akua was third in 22:38 and Chico finished in fourth place in 23:26 before becoming our official photographer.  For the ladies, Abby Melling came in first in 25:09, followed by Kelly Hudik in 27:37 and Wendy Clark in 28:03.  Full results from the 5k are available here.

In the half marathon, Alan Ryan edged out Ryusuke Murao to take first place 1:2724 to 1:28:40. Joe Barcia took third place in 1:29:52.

Alan Ryan

Nancy Kramer was the first female finisher in the half marathon with a time of 1:51:48.  Erin Rene was second in 1:54:32 and Winona Chen was third in 1:55:02.

Nancy Kramer

Full results from the half marathon are available here.

In the 30K Waipio Challenge, Chris Gregory ran away from the field in a time of 1:54:01.  Jonathan Peralto was second in 2:03:13, followed by Kenneth Stover in 2:16:12.

Chris Gregory

Yuka Blinn took first place for the women in 3:07:27, with Ashley Drake (3:23:40) and Amanda Vuniwai (3:32:21) behind her.  Results from the 30k are available here. And here are a few more pictures of the morning:

Congratulations to all of the finishers of the Honoka'a Runs! There's no resting here on the Big Island with several events up this weekend. First tomorrow morning is the Run for the Dry Forest 5k/10k out at Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a - only of the only trail runs on the island!  Then tomorrow night you can Race the Reaper in the Waverider Triathlon Club's 5k starting at the Kona Community Pool at 5 p.m.  Sunday morning is a Peaman race with a 1/3 mile swim and 2 mile run. 

Ironman Recap!

Well, Ironman has come and gone and Kona is finally back to normal.  It's amazing how quickly everyone clears out.  It's also amazing how many people pack into Kona for the week of Ironman and how crazy the atmosphere is.  We're lucky enough to be involved in the industry and to see a big sales boost from the event, but that also means we personally get wiped out! So although I took many pictures over the course of the week, I didn't really get a chance to share them until way after the event. And here is my quick rundown of some of the events that went on during that crazy time, with links to results where available!

On the Saturday before the race, there were two swim events on the Kona side.  The ever-popular Kukio Blue Water Swim took place north of town, while Ironman debuted the Ho'ala 2.4 mile swim race on the Ironman course.  Unfortunately we didn't get to participate or attend either event, but you can find the results from the Kukio Blue Water Swim here and the results from the Ho'ala swim here.

The next morning was the annual PATH 5k/10k Run/Walk on Alii Drive.  After helping at registration in the morning, I was able to get a few photos before heading off to work.  Full results from the 5k are available here. 10k results are available here.

Some notable finishers were Luis De La Torre, the first Big Island runner in the 10k:

Bree Wee - first female Big Island finisher:

Rani Tanimoto pushing Cole:

Big Island Running Company employee Maggie McCleery:

Cary Aurand winning an age group award in the 5K:

And Brian Pruitt taking home his age group award as well:

We also managed to snap a couple of photos of the Big Island Ironman athletes before their race:

The next exciting event of the week was the Underpants Run on Thursday morning.  Our special limited edition Run Big undies made quite the appearance!

Along with plenty of other crazy sights!

Finally Saturday morning arrived, nice and clear.  We watched the swim start from behind Kona Inn:

Then it was off to breakfast before catching a little bit of the bike course:

Kristina Sawaya

Cowman

While all the athletes headed out to Hawi, we opened the store for all their supporters back in town. Later in the day, we had the chance to head out to Alii Drive and see some of our local athletes out on the run course:

Mike DeCarli

Sam Brown

Jim Moore

Not a local, but we saw Hines Ward

Jason Heady

Chitwin San Tun with the best photo of the day!

From there we actually had work to do on the run course, so didn't get to see many people cross the finish line.  Although we were able to catch up with some of them on the Queen K, including following some of the last finishers.  But all of our local athletes finished and did great!  Results from the race are available at ironmanlive.com.

It was a fun experience as usual, but we're glad to be getting back to normal!