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.)

Jingle Bell Run 2011

It's Christmas time! Last Sunday was the 7th Annual Jingle Bell Beach Run on Alii Drive in Kona.  Yet another one of the free races in Kona, this one is hosted by Rani Tanimoto and Penn Henderson and is truly a first class event.  And it's growing by leaps and bounds each year.  This year there were over 300 finishers between the 5k and the 1-mile distance!

The holiday spirit at this event is simply amazing.  Everyone starts stalking the Christmas aisles before the race to come up with the most inventive and festive attire.  It's a bonus if it's not too uncomfortable to run in! Here are some of the festive outfits:
 

Mrs. Claus and some holiday roller skaters were there, but we didn't get any pictures of them. Below are the participants in the costume contest.  The wrapped present (on roller blades, too!) won first place, followed by skinny Santa and the sparkly elves.

Another highlight of this race is the fact that it's the culmination of our Couch to 5k program! Our Couch to 5kers have been training three times a week since the middle of October to run this race.  Most of them started out with no running experience at all, but look how they did!

Laura Kniffin with Coach Maggie at the finish

Diane Kanuha checking her time at the finish

Miles Tagawa (center) with Connie Baer and Ellis Andrews

We didn't get pictures of Dominique Leite or Laury Saracho, who also finished the race.  And Paula Baker also completed the program, but had to help out with Team Mango's Journey to La-La-Land.  Rani also prepared awards for a couple of our outstanding Couch to 5kers - Laura Kniffin who really started with no running experience and Maggie Leite who has been the awesome coach of our program for the past two years!
 

Laura and Maggie accept their awards

Congratulations to all of our Couch to 5k Finishers and we hope we continue to see you out on the roads!

Rani and Penn do an amazing job of pulling together prize packages for this event.  In addition to the ones they make for our Couch to 5k group and the top five finishers of each race, they also have a Special Recognition Award and a Community Service Award. This year the Special Recognition Award went to Carl "Gecko" Koomoa, the head of Team Mango Races, another group that puts on races over the course of the year.  Unfortunately, Carl wasn't able to make the Jingle Bell Beach Run because he was hosting a Team Mango event - Journey to La-La-Land, a run or bike to the top of Hualalai!The Community Service Award this year was present to Daniel Hodel, whose Queen K Tri Club hosts several aid-station assisted training runs/races each year.  Congratulations, Daniel and Gecko!

Daniel Hodel accepts his community service award.

As for the race results, Jason came in first for the 5k with a time of 17:46, followed by Travis Thompson in 18:14, Brandt Mabuni in 18:21, Brad Bryson in 18:28, and Tai Scarbrough in 18:33.  For the ladies 5k, it was Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen with the win in 20:36.  Grace Howard took second with 21:49, followed by Brooke Myers with Whistler (in a speedy jogging stroller) in 21:57, Anita Leao in 22:16 and Cassidy Landes in 24:11. 

In the 1-mile run, Tobey Olney followed up his Wobble & Gobble one-mile victory with a time of 5:52 for 1st place.  Cade Kanuha was second in 8:42. Jackie Payne followed in third place and first overall for the ladies in 9:01.  Amanda Schiff was hot on her heels, coming across next in 9:02. Rudolph the Reindeer and Santa's Elf came in third and fourth for the men, while Johnny Prehn and Apryl Sasaki were third and fourth for the women.

Full results from the races are available here. 

Happy finishers Jessica and her son Aidan

Even after all of these awards, the fun still wasn't over - there were tons of random prize giveaways, including a night's stay at the Royal Kona Resort.  As I mentioned above, Rani and Penn have really created a special event.  Thanks to them for their generosity in organizing this event and also to the sponsors who help make it possible!

Up this weekend is Peaman's Birthday Bonanza on Christmas morning.  8:03 a.m. at the Kailua Pier.  We hope to see everyone there after all the presents have been opened!

2010 Jingle Bell Run

The 2010 Jingle Bell Run was a fantastic way to celebrate the holidays and cap off an active and fun year (although it's really not over, since there's one more Peaman event next week)! The race was also the goal race for our Couch to 5K Program!

This race, like most others in Kona, was a laid-back, free, fun event with a 5k race, as well as a 1-mile distance. Hosted by Rani "The Roadrunner" Tanimoto-Henderson and her many volunteers, the event ran from the pier, south on Alii Drive. The 1-mile turnaround was at Bubba Gump's, while the 3.1 mile turnaround was near the Green Flash (partially up hill #2 on Alii Drive).

Everyone was encouraged to dress up for the holidays and many people took that to heart. There were tons of Santa hats and reindeer antlers and noses. Here are some photos of the day and the various costumes. More photos can be found here.

I don't think you can really tell in this picture, but the babies had on Christmas outfits with striped socks!

Ms. Claus with the sleigh and reindeer won first place in the costume contest.

And here are some pictures of our amazing Couch to 5k Group - most of them plan on continuing on and training for other races!

In the men's race, professional triathlete Chris Lieto won the men's 5k distance, while setting a new course record of 16:18. That won him a Fair Winds snorkel cruise! Awards were given to the top 6 male and females overall in both distances. Following after Chris Lieto were Karl Moats (17:23), Brandon Fell (18:03), Jordan Littell (18:08), Brandt Mabuni (18:46) and Alan Ryan (18:48). In the women's 5k, I held on for first in 21:33, Zoe Sims was second in 21:55, Monica Scheel was third in 22:27, Shirley Pratt was fourth in 22:50, Cecilia Woodbury was fifth in 23:53 and Ann Griffin came in sixth in 23:57.

For the 1-mile distance, the winners were a mix of kids and adults. For the men/boys, it was Cody Bergfalk in first with a new course record of 5:32, followed by Kaiden Lieto (7:49), Elijah Reid (8:14), David Bowden (10:01), Dax Aho (10:26) and Jack Jeremiah (12:29). For the women/girls, Sidney Vermuelen won in 8:08, followed by Koren Kobayashi (8:09), Belinda Herd (8:41), Faith Yamakawa (9:18), Ciara Blaber (10:32) and Tayvhe-Lei Kaupu-Galon (11:01). Full results from the races are available here.

The post-race was when the event really got going. I don't know how she did it, but Rani had tons of great prizes to give away - coffee, Starbucks schwag, snorkel cruises, restaurant gift certificates, massages and more! The first prizes went to the costume winners, with the sleigh and reindeer coming in first, Tasha the reindog in second and the guy in the Santa Claus beard in third.

Rani then dedicated the Special Recognition Award to a truly deserving individual - Peaman. The time and effort that he puts in to planning monthly free events is astounding. And he's been doing it for twenty years - through various health ups and downs as well. Mahalo plenty to Peaman for everything he's done for the community!

The surprise award of the day for us was the Community Member award. Rani started talking about the recipients of the award and it was like one of those new CFL lightbulbs going off (you know the ones - they need some time to warm up). Slowly I started to realize that she was talking about Jason and I! We want to thank everyone who has supported us over the past year+. We love being a part of this community and truly enjoy all the events that we get to attend, race, volunteer at, etc. Thank you all for being so welcoming!

The next awards were for the outstanding participants in the Couch to 5k program. While everyone that participated in the program did a great job, these two stood out. Matt Sutherland made it to all but one of our group runs, even when he was the only one with our leader, Maggie. And Michelle Heid battled some injury issues when she first started, but by the end of the program she was running extra days on her own. Congratulations to them!

We'd also like to thank Maggie Leite for all she did to keep everyone motivated and ready to run. She was the perfect group leader! I know many of the participants want to keep training because of her.

Congratulations to all of the finishers and many mahalos to Rani for putting on such a great event! Next weekend is the last Peaman event of the year - Peaman's Birthday Bonanza, a 1/2 mile swim and 3.9 mile run. Mele Kalikimaka!