Captain Cook Challenge and Cinco de Mayo Swim 2014

Two weekends ago, Team Mango hosted the Captain Cook Challenge, one of the most challenging events on the island.  Then last weekend, the summer swim race series kicked off with the Cinco de Mayo Splash.  Since we didn't recap the Captain Cook Challenge last week, I'm combining both race recaps here!

Captain Cook Challenge

Carl Koomoa and his Team Mango races hosted this race for many years before being forced out of Kealakekua Bay last year, resulting in an alternate race - the Escape to Puuhonua.  Luckily, Carl received permission to use Kealakekua Bay again this year and the Captain Cook Challenge was back on.  The race starts on the south side of Kealakekua Bay with a 1-mile ocean swim across the bay to the Captain Cook Monument.  After leaving the water, runners climb the 2-mile hike up to Napoopoo Road, with approximately 1500 ft of elevation gain. From there it's on to the bike, heading out to the highway headed south before turning down past the City of Refuge, and up Napoopoo Road for one more loop. The bike course finishes at Kealakekua Bay again before runners head out on a hot and unshaded 4-mile run on the old beach road toward the National Park and back.  No leg of this event is easy! 

Two years ago I tackled the first two legs of this race before tagging off to Jason for the bike.  Then we both did the 4-mile run (guess who won that one?).  Jason had a scheduled rest day this year, so I recruited John Ferdico to do the bike leg for me again, with both of us running the last 4 mile run.

Even getting into the water provides quite a challenge.  After carefully climbing over the slick rocks, you have to time your entry perfectly so you don't get slammed back into the rocks by a big wave. Once in the water, though, it's surprisingly sandy and a good place to wait for the start.  Once the horn goes off, everyone takes off on different lines to the monument. I ended up staying pretty far out, while others took a route closer to shore.  Pretty early on, the bottom drops out and you can't see anything but blue. Unfortunately about halfway through the swim, we started getting hit with jellyfish.  Mainly just the little annoying and somewhat painful sea lice type, but I did manage to get whacked with something different on my neck and arm.  Let me tell you, that impact and pain took my breath away! Although there was water patrol out there on SUPs, there weren't many other options at this point than to finish on. I kept thinking that if I swam faster I would eventually get out of the stingers. Turns out that didn't really happen until I got out of the water, but all that adrenaline led to my fastest mile swim ever - approximately 30:30 (34:00 minutes officially with T1 time).

After taking too long in transition to collect myself, I started out on the first run.  For some reason I didn't remember this being as hard two years ago.  I ran for about 2-3 minutes before slowing down to a walk/climb.  I tried to push myself in less steep sections with better footing, but still wasn't able to run much at all. (Of course there were lots of photographers out there, so I had to pick it up to run everytime I saw one of them).  But I was never so happy to see the end of a run!

First runner up and eventual race winner Chris Gregory

Yes, that's how we all felt!

I tagged off to John for the bike and sat down to catch my breath and try to figure out what to do about this stinging pain on my neck (turned out ice helped pretty well for that one).  After watching all the runners come up the trail, we headed down to T3 to watch the bikers come in.

This race is relatively small, with only 21 individuals and 3 relay teams competing.  At the end of the first two legs, we were in 3rd place for the relays.  The eventual winning team had quite a lead with super masters swimmer Jim McCleery leading the way and getting about 12 minutes on me on the swim. So John had some work to do.  He did a great job, catching up to Dave Cobb to put us in second place.

Then it was off on the run. Compared to the first run, this was a piece of cake! Even though it was hot and sunny, at least it wasn't straight uphill and I felt like I could move my legs.  My goal was just to stay ahead of John off the head start I had while he was transitioning.  I got to the turnaround and was heading back when I saw he was the next person behind me.  But I still had some people to catch ahead of me.  Disclaimer, though - all of the people I was chasing had done the full race and didn't have a couple of hours to rest before this run.  I really had an unfair advantage.

At the end of the day, we finished in second place in the relays with an overall time of 3:35:01.  And I'm pretty sure John will never do that again:

Full results from the race are available here. Chris Gregory finished in first place with a time of 2:34:05, a new course record. Sylvia Ravaglia was the first (and only) woman to finish the course with a time of 3:09:48.  Congratulations to everyone who participated in this epic Big Island event.  More photos from the race are available here. Also, big mahalos to all of the volunteers! With three separate transition areas, this was a logistically difficult race that went off without a hitch because of them.

Cinco de Mayo Splash

Then last Saturday morning, swimmers (and wanna-be swimmers) gathered for the Cinco de Mayo Splash at Ana'ehoomalu Bay, the first race in the Triple Crown series of swims over the next month and a half.  Jason and I were excited for this race, since it was going to serve as a big showdown between us. Jason beat me in the races last year, but since then he's taken some time off from swimming, while I stayed at it consistently.  I was hopeful the results would bear that out!  Thanks to Nori Becker for taking all of the photos at this race for us.

Another tricky ocean entry for this one.  There was a coral reef that you basically had to belly flop over to get to the start line.  But it was a pretty great day for an ocean swim.  The water was calm, the sun wasn't too bright and the water was relatively clear.  Apparently several people saw honus and rays near the start of the swim. 

The course was pretty direct, just a straight shot out to the Ocean Sports boat, around it, and back in.  Not surprisingly, high school senior Leahi Camacho was the first out of the water by quite a margin.  Rumor has it she swam so fast because she needed to get ready for prom that evening.

Other fast swimmers started charging out of the water a little while later, with a mixture of youth and experience.

Many minutes later, I was heading in on the home stretch. I hadn't seen Jason since the start, but I thought it was safe bet that I was ahead of him.  Then I took a breath and looked to my right and who did I see?  No, not Jason, but John Ferdico instead.  I decided there was no way I was going to let him pass me, so I had to pick it up for the last 200 yards or so.  He hung on, though, and I managed to just beat him up the beach, both coming in just under 30 minutes.

Can't breathe ... but can't let John pass me!

Then we started looking around for Jason. He wasn't hanging out on the beach, but about a minute later we saw him come through the finish line.  Turns out he had his own battle with John's girlfriend Ali, beating her out of the water by just a few seconds, too. Although all of us were pretty far back in the pack, it was still a lot more fun to have that healthy competition.

And then it was on to the post-race fiesta.

Chips and salsa, fruit, donuts and cookies all on the beach afterwards - a pretty perfect post-race!  Then it was on to the awards, which were won by some seriously fast swimmers.  Full results are available here. More photos are available here. Congratulations to all of the swimmers and mahalo to all of the volunteers!

Coming up this weekend is Peaman's Polar Bear & Pinto Bean Biathlon, a 3/4 mile swim and 3.1 mile run starting at 8:08 am from the Kailua Pier.

February's Recap - Part 1

Well, that New Year's Resolution of posting more frequently on the blog really went out the window... Since it's been a month since we posted anything, I'm going to try to do some brief recaps of the races that have happened since then, but I'm going to split it up into two posts (Part II is available here).

Peaman's Splish-Splash and Super Bowl Shuffle Biathlon

January's Peaman event was appropriately Super Bowl themed, with a 1/2 mile swim and 3.1 mile run.  Karlyn Pipes swam and ran away with the race, taking the overall title in 35:53. Tony Frost was the first male finisher in 36:47.  Full results from the race are available here. 

Super Bowl Sunday Races

Although Peaman's race was a Super Bowl theme, it was held the week before the actual Big Game.  On Super Bowl Sunday, Team Mango hosted their Springtime Triathlon and Jeff and Dana Strang hosted their annual Super Bowl Sunday Half Marathon and Pickup Runs.

Chris Gregory took the overall win in the 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 6 mile run of the Springtime Tri with a time of 1:28:57. Big Island Running Company's representative John Ferdico finished in 2:04:23. Full results are available at Team Mango's website.

Meanwhile, I took part in the Strang runs.  The half marathon distance run starts from Kua Bay and runs into town to Yoga Hale.  I did this run last year and it's a great way to run a different route - and they have water along the way! Since I'm not quite up to 13 mile distances yet this year, I opted for the 8 mile run from Kaiminani Drive into town.  Thanks to some great running partners (Chitwin, Ali and Jenny), it was a fun morning, with a faster than anticipated time (1:10).  Thanks to Jeff and Dana for hosting this fun run each year! Results are below:

½ marathon
1:32:00 Bree Wee
1:45:00 Lance Mirchell
1:52:25 Kevin Lannen
1:53:30 Stephen Cosgrove
1:57:00 Scott Jewsbury
1:57:05 Kerstin Busse
2:01:12 Susan Smith Nixon
2:02:00 Jeff Strang
2:12:30 Vegard Fyrileiu
2:31:00 Floyd Rhoades
2:33:00 Betsy Solis
2:34:00 Johno Perea
2:37:00 John Kaiwi
2:47:00 Pete Ballerini
2:55:00 Patty Ferrington on a route of her own

8 miles
1:06:00 Kevin Graham
1:06:00 Rebekah Lussiaa
1:06:00 George Collins
1:10:00 Melissa Braswell
1:10:00 Chitwin Santun
1:11:00 Ali Steiner
1:12:00 Cassidy Landes
1:12:30 Katie Rice
1:13:30 Jenny Payne
1:14:00 Karen Harris
1:17:00 Grete Brantenborg
1:22:00 Esther Lehmann
1:22:00 Terry Field

6.2 miles
:51:00 Chris White
:51:00 Kevin Geiger
:51:00 Charles Hailey
:57:30 Shea Cochran
1:06:00 Jim Tucker
1:10:00 Melissa John
1:12:00 Pay Sackniess
1:12:30 John Mothershead
1:12:30 Leanne Lowden
1:15:00 Ryan Nuckols
1:17:00 Todd Weinmann

4mi (from Across the Ocean)
1:25:00 Stevie Strang
1:25:00 Cindy Schafer
1:25:00 Doris the Dog

Team Mango's Monster and Mini-Monster Triathlons

The following weekend was Team Mango's Monster and Mini-Monster Triathlons.  These have become a really popular event for people who want to train at longer distances. The Mini-Monster covers a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run.  The Monster doubles those distances (covering the same amount of miles on much of the same course as the Ironman triathlon).  And as is typical, there were all kinds of relays, crazy distances and course records.  Full results are available here. 

This year, Sylvia Ravaglia captured the overall Monster distance title with a time of 12:02:10, setting a new course record and women's course record.  Cycle Station's John Howerton took second and first male in 12:21:30. First place in the Mini-Monster went to Cory McCord, racing for Dr. Monica Scheel Dermatology.  Ellyn Brown of Anchorage, Alaska was the first female Mini-Monster finisher.  

I was able to capture some shots of the athletes at the aid station behind Target on the run course, so here are some of those shots.

Shirley Pratt motoring by the aid station.

Linda Hallinger hard at work keeping the athletes hydrated.

Smiling face.

Picture of determination

Thanks to Team Mango and all the volunteers who work so hard to make these training events possible. 

Part II will have updates from last weekend's Valentine's Day races and yesterday's Team Mango triathlon.

Team Mango's Monster and Mini-Monster Races

For the past three years, Team Mango and Carl "Gecko" Koomoa has been putting on an event that allows people to compete in an Ironman-distance race in Kona, without having to qualify.   That event took place this past weekend with the Monster and Mini-Monster Triathlons.  Another nice thing about these events is that relays are allowed, so more people can get in on the fun.

Water Patrol

The day started off with the pre-race briefing by Gecko. 

Both the Monster and the Mini-Monster started at the same time, with a swim out to the 1.2 mile buoy and back. For Monster participants, it was then back into the water for another loop.  Meanwhile, the Mini-Monster participants headed out on the bike course, which was on the highway out towards the Mauna Lani and back to Alii Gardens Marketplace on Alii Drive.  From there, the runners ran out towards Old Airport and essentially took a lap around Target before heading back down Alii Drive, all the way to the bottom of the hill in Keauhou.  The finish line this year was in Alii Gardens Marketplace, which really was an ideal location for a post-race gathering and transition area.  The Monster participants rode all the way out towards Hawi on the bike before turning around and heading back to the transition area.  Their run course was two loops of the Mini-Monster run course.  Full results from the races are available here.

Jason with swim coach Steve

Jason and I decided a couple of months ago to do a relay.  Obviously Jason was going to be the cyclist and I said I would do the run.  Somehow I then got assigned the swim portion as well, which I was dreading.  Enter my savior, Sarah Chang, who stepped in last Thursday and agreed to do the swim for us.  Add the fact that she's a fantastic swimmer to my great relief in not having to do the swim, and I was a happy camper.

Sarah getting (or giving?) race tips

The day before the race, rumors were circulating that there might be a super speedy swimmer doing the relay.  That turned out to be true as Lance Armstrong came to swim for Bree Wee's relay team. Regardless of everyone's personal opinion towards him, everyone showed their aloha towards him. Of course, he turned in the fastest swim split of the day with a 26 minute swim. 

Lance after the tag

Tony Frost from Canada came out of the water second in 29:14.  Next came the first woman and our relay partner Sarah who swam a 30:19 and got Jason out onto the bike in good position.   

The rest of the swimmers kept streaming in, with Lori Montgomery leading the way for the Monster participants with a time of 1:03:23 for her finned swim.  Kuba Wuls (1:11:06) was second, followed by Dene Sturm in 1:12:20.  

After the swimmers were done, it was time for a little waiting and resting while the bikers were out on the course.  Everyone moved down to Alii Gardens Marketplace where T2 was set up.

Sarah and Chico

Meanwhile, the cyclists were having a heck of a time out on the Queen K.  Everyone commented on how strong those winds were.  Apparently most people were struggling to hit double digit miles per hour on the way out, but once they turned around they were immediately up to 30 MPH! I'm guessing the ride in was a lot more fun than the ride out.

Thomas Vonach hit T2 first after the fastest bike split of the day, but Bree Wee was hot on his heels.  She tagged off to Dana Hendry for her relay run, while I waited to see how much time I'd have to try to make up on the run. As usual, I initially said I'd do the run as a "training run" (and Jason agreed), but as it got closer to the race I started realizing that neither Jason or I would be happy if I didn't try to run a little faster than training run pace, depending on where the other relay teams were. In a little bit, Jason came in after a 2 hour and 50 minute bike. At that point I pretty much realized we weren't going to catch Bree's team, but we still took off at a pretty good pace.  (My running partner Chitwin came out to run with me, which was a little crazy, but super nice of him).

For the first part of the run, you could see where the people around you were - the bikes were coming in along the same route and runners were going back and forth. I was a little worried about this run, since it was taking place at 10:30 in the morning, which is not a time I usually run.  And boy was it hot! But luckily the aid stations were plentiful, and they were handing out full bottles of water. At each aid station I grabbed a bottle and threw 3/4 of it over my head and tried to drink the rest.  By the end of the run I was dripping wet and could wring out my clothes.  But that really helped, along with the arm coolers I wore for the first time, and I was able to run just a bit faster than last week, finishing in 1:49:47, a time I was pretty happy with given the conditions.

Our relay ended up in third place. I never really came close to Bree's runner and their team took first. I did catch up to Rob Van Geen who was doing the relay with Kym Kiser (and then later that night ran the marathon portion of the Monster for a relay, too!).  But at about that same time I got passed by a super speedy Dan Hodel who was running for Dave Pratt, taking second place for the relays. 

In the Mini-Monster race, Thomas Vonach held on to his lead to win for the third year in a row in a time of 4:21:28.  Christopher Caswell of Canada was second place in a time of 4:38:21 and Jano Soto was third in 4:40:30.  Jeni Winegarner was first for the ladies in 5:01:44.  Nancy Fedeyko was second for the women in 6:07:52 and Susan Nixon was third in 6:11:28. 

For the full Monster distance, Dene Sturm was the first one to complete the full distance in a time of 13:10:15.  Kuba Wuls was second in 13:37:07 and Jim Moore was third in 14:52:50. 

In the Monster relays, the team of Lori Montgomery, Jay Plasman and Chica Barrios edged out the team of Daniel Brandis and Rob Van Geen by about 1 minute.  Congrats to everyone who competed, especially those who were doing this distance for the first time! You completed a hard course without a ton of spectator support, which is quite an accomplishment! 

Special thanks to Gecko and all of the volunteers for making this event a success and an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday!

New Year, New Events

Like many other people, I made some New Year's Resolutions this year.  One of them was to update this blog more frequently, since the last post is from (gasp) October! Of course, writing the first new post on January 27 of the new year probably means that I already broke this resolution, but we're still going to give it a shot!

So much has happened over the last several months:

• We opened a new store location in Hale Ku'i Plaza out by Costco.  The new store is three times as big as our Alii Drive location and lets us do some cool things like video gait analysis on a treadmill, expand into different shoe brands, bring in kids' shoes and new products like swimwear.  If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure to stop by on your way to Costco! We're also right next door to Cycle Station, so you can pick up all of your triathlon needs in one stop!

• Our Couch to 5k group was the largest ever and had a great time completing the Jingle Bell Beach Run. Full results are available here. Most of those new runners have kept up with their running into the new year!

• On a sad note, Wayne "Big Dog" Joseph, race director for the Big Island International Marathon, lost his battle with cancer. His absence will be missed in the running community on the Big Island, but his spirit will live on.

Photo by Marie Kuramoto

• Last weekend, I completed my first triathlon ever - Team Mango's Super Sprint Triathlon.  It was a 200 yard swim, 6 mile bike, and 1.5 mile run. I had fun, except for the initial bike portion climbing Hualalai Road from Alii Drive to the Highway.  That was quite the challenge considering I never cycle, but I made it! I don't see too many triathlons in my future, though. Full results from the Super Sprint Triathlon are available here.

Photo by Kiser Motorcycles

• Over this weekend, Jason competed in one of the craziest events ever on the mainland - the Krispy Kreme Donut Dash. The race started out with a two-mile run, then you had to eat a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts before running the two miles back to the start.  According to Jason, this run was a lot more about the eating than the running.  Jason finished the race in 34:30 and his brother-in-law finished in 47:37.  But the real star of the family was his sister Erica, who apparently is a champion eater, as well as a super-speedy runner.  She was the first female and second place overall with a time of 31:22.  I don't know if you'll be able to convince any of them to ever do that again, though!

Doesn't that look like fun? Photo by Wendell Braswell

This morning was Peaman's first race of the year - the Super Bowl Shuffle Biathlon, a 1/2 mile swim and 3.1 mile run. I'll post some pictures and results from that race in separate post tomorrow (keeping this resolution going!)

Next weekend there are two events happening on the west side of the island.  The first is Team Mango's Springtime Triathlon, a 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 6 mile run, starting at 7:00 a.m. from the Kona Pier.  Also that same morning is the Strang Super Bowl Sunday Half Marathon and Pickup Run.  The 13.1 Mile course runs from Kua Bay to Yoga Hale starting at 7:00 a.m.  If you don't want to run quite that far, you can join the group at Kaiminani at 7:45 for an 8 mile run or Kona Mountain Coffee at 8 a.m. for 6.2 miles. 

Trashcan Triathlon 2012

As I mentioned last week, this past weekend was Team Mango's trashcan triathlon at the Kailua Pier.  The race started with a 1/2 mile swim, followed by a 10-mile bike down Alii Drive, and a 3-mile run on Alii Drive.  While this can be completed as a regular triathlon, as many people did, the race rewards people for cleaning up the route.  For every piece of trash collected on the swim, a swimmer got 5 minutes deducted from their time.  For every piece of trash collected on the bike, the biker got 3 minutes deducted from their time.  Every piece of trash collected on the run was worth a 1 minute deduction in time.  So in the results from this race, you'll actually see people with negative times!

Pam Miller took the overall title with her massive collection of trash.  She got 2 pieces on the swim, 122 on the bike and 64 on the run.  And she wasn't just picking up cigarette butts. She actually brought in a junk bike on her bike ride and a spare tire on her run.  Her clock finish of 2:37:19 was reduced to negative 6 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds.  Congrats to her on a great job cleaning up Alii Drive!

Winner Pam Miller - Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Bob Smith finished second, bringing in 168 pieces of trash for an adjusted time of negative 3:09:36.  Jim Moore took third with an adjusted time of -1:30:38. 

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Albert Martinez was fourth, but won points for creatively hauling back a huge box!

In the ongoing rivalry between Mike DeCarli and Chris Prater, Chris narrowly beat Mike, thanks to some strategic trash pick-up!

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Sarah Higgins came prepared with a backpack to tackle the bike ride and hauled in 21 pieces of trash on the bike and 61 on the run!

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

In addition to bringing back a bagful of trash on the run, Christine DeCarli brought back 3 mascot mangoes! (Her trash pickup isn't actually reflected in the results, but the photo below and I can both vouch for her.)

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

In the relay portion of the race, the relay team of Luke Toland and Jeff and James Neubauer took first place, thanks to the 113 pieces of trash they collected on the run. 

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Jason and I finished in second place after I snagged 57 pieces of trash on the run. Thanks to Christine DeCarli and Chris Prater for dumping some extras in there!

The Chang family finished in third place for the relay teams, with Sarah Chang swimming a blazingly fast 9 minutes and 54 seconds AND picking up 3 pieces of trash!

The youngest competitors also got into the action, with Allyson Prater finishing 8th for the women and Jackie Payne coming in 12th for the women. 

Jackie Payne - Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Allyson Prater - Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Huge mahalo to Mercedes DeCarli who took all of the pictures used in this post - both for taking such great shots and letting me use them! 

Up this weekend is the EMS 5k Run and 2 mile Walk in Hilo on Sunday.  The race starts at 8:30 a.m. from Lilioukalani Park. In addition to the great race atmosphere and post-race raffles and awards, there are always plenty of activities for the kids.  So bring out the whole family for an active morning!

Peaman's Red, White and Blue Biathlon

Since our last blog post, we've had several interesting events take place.  On July 4, the Salute to the Veteran's 5k was held in Hilo.  Results are available on Wayne "Big Dog" Joseph's blog. 

Then on July 7, the annual King's Swim was held at the Kona Pier.  This 1.2 mile swim starts at the pier, goes to the 1.2 mile marker which is the Body Glove boat, makes the turn around the boat and heads back to finish on King Kamehameha beach side of the pier.  Results are available here. This is a fantastic event, with lots of great awards and raffle prizes, plus a great post-race spread.  I finished the King's Swim for the second year in a row, knocking a whopping 10 seconds off my time from last year! 

King's Swim (Photo by Paola Soto)

Paola Soto took tons of photos of the events, so I've attached a couple here.  Thanks Paola! More can be found on the King's Swim's Facebook page.

Lead Men (Photo by Paola Soto)

1st Place Woman Leahi Camacho (Photo by Paola Soto)

The oldest competitor - a true inspiration (Photo by Paola Soto)

Then this past weekend, we all gathered on Sunday for Peaman's red, white and blue biathlon. Unfortunately, Jason and I have taken over the timing for the races, so we aren't able to take nearly as many photos (truthfully, I took two!).  I borrowed a couple, though from Kawika Singson, who got some great underwater shots. Thanks, Kawika!

Photo by Kawika Singson

Photo by Kawika Singson

Photo by Kawika Singson

The usual suspects took control of this race early, with Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen coming out of the water first, with Bree Wee hot on her heels.  Bree caught Karlyn on the run for a 1-2 finish for the pair.  Finishing third was new local racer James Resor. Jon Jokiel took fourth place and (friendly) rivals Chris Prater and Mike DeCarli battled for the next two spots with Chris taking the upper hand in this one.  Full results are available here. After a so-so swim (20 mins.), I finished in 49:14.

The top three Peawees at this race were Kanaipono Eckhart in 12:11, Jackie Payne in 12:17 and Zackary Shepard in 12:21 - a pretty tight race for those kids!

One of my two photos - certainly not the greatest!

Up this weekend is a race that's great for the aina - Team Mango's Trashcan Triathlon!  This race is a 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike and 3 mile run.  But the twist is that you can deduct seconds and sometimes minutes off your time for each piece of trash you collect on the course.   So come out and get some exercise while also helping keep Alii Drive Clean! The race starts at 7 a.m. Sunday, July 22 at the Kailua Pier.

Team Mango Captain Cook Challenge

Last Sunday marked the first appearance of the Big Island Running Company's triathlon relay team at Team Mango's Captain Cook Challenge.  The name is pretty accurate as this race was quite the challenge.  We had many people question why we chose this race for our first one, but it was all for fun.  Special thanks to Mercedes DeCarli, Shirley Pratt and the Kiser family for letting me use their photos from the day for this post! (Also, if you haven't checked it out, Mercedes wrote a great article for West Hawaii Today last Friday on the 5k Fun Run and I think is also writing this Friday's article on the Captain Cook Challenge.)

The morning started off early with a pre-race briefing by Carl "Gecko" Koomoa at Kealakekua Bay. 

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

About 30 of us got ready to tackle the crashing waves and swim from the side of the bay above to the Captain Cook Monument about 1 mile away on the other side of the bay.  It's pretty much at the end of the point in the picture below:

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

One of the hardest parts of the day was getting into the water. 

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

We had to climb over rocks, scoot in on our butts and try not to get wiped out by the incoming waves.  Luckily we all made it in and were off.  After the initial swells, the water wasn't too rough.  There wasn't much to see underwater, though, since the ocean is pretty deep where we were.  But there were a pod of dolphins playing in the bay that we swam over about halfway across. I saw about 5 dolphins swim right underneath me, which was certainly a highlight of the day.

At the end of the swim, we climbed up a ladder to get to the Captain Cook Monument where the volunteer team had set up a transition area with our run shoes and gear.

Photo by Shirley Pratt

I was one of the last people out of the water, so the transition area had cleared out quite a bit by the time I made it there.

Photo by Shirley Pratt

After throwing on run shoes and some clothes, it was up a treacherous trail to the top of Napoopoo Road.  The route is approximately 2 miles, with 1500 feet of climbing.  And the footing is very rocky and loose, so that ended up being more of a hike than a run unfortunately. (Although for mountain goats like Billy Barnett, it was no big deal and he ended up setting the trail run record in 15:45.)

Billy Barnett (Photo by the Kisers)

Photo by the Kisers

Photo by the Kisers

The picture below shows some of the trail, although not the steep portions, and a much better way to get to the top!

Photo by Shirley Pratt

After what seemed like forever I finally made it to the top and tagged off to Jason who took off on the bike. Yes, for those who may have seen him or the pictures, that was Jason on a bike! He did pretty well, too, for that being his first time on a bike in 2012.

Photo by Mercedes DeCarli

Photo by the Kisers

The bike course was 1 loop, from the top of Napoopoo Road south on the highway to the 160 junction to Honaunau, then north to Kealekua Bay, all the way up Napoopoo Road again to the top.  Then it was 3/4 of that loop again, stopping at Kealekeua Bay at the bottom of the hill.

Kym Kiser going up the hill (Photo by the Kisers)

Harry Yoshida (Photo by the Kisers)

The final transition area was back at Kealekekua Bay, as we headed back out on another run 2 miles south along the beach road and back. By the time we hit this part of the event, it was about 10 a.m., so the run was pretty toasty.  But there was a great aid station with icy cold water bottles at the turnaround.   

Winner Tai Scarbrough (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

Women's Winner Sylvia Ravaglia (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

Both Jason and I completed the last run portion, so we actually ended up with two relay teams.  Guess which one won. :) I started my run when Jason came into transition and Jason did his transition and some sort of crazy loser lap in his bike shoes before starting his run.  He caught me about 1 mile into the run.

Jason coming into the finish (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

Just a few minutes behind him! (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

We did pretty good for our first event (although I may get fired from my swimming leg unless I can get a little faster!)  Our total time was 3:15:31 for Jason (41:10 for the swim/transition; 27:42 for the trail run; 1:38:19 for the bike; 3:28 for the bike/run transition; and 24:52 for the last run) and 3:19:50 for me (all the same splits except 29:11 for the last run).

Sal Salmi finishing the run (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

One of the Run Aloha ladies, Shirley Pratt (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

The other Run Aloha lady, Becky Prater (Photo by Mercedes DeCarli)

Results for the individuals are here.  Relay results aren't included on that link, but the combo of Tai Scarbrough and Rob Van Geen finished in first place.  Jason running in our relay was second and my run from our relay was third.  Chris Prater and Kevin Prater combined to come in next followed by Dave and Shirley Pratt and then the Chris/Kevin/Becky Prater team.

All in all it was a great day, a beautiful and challenging course, and a fun way to do something different. Who knows whether we'll do another triathlon relay, but it was a great first experience.  Also, congrats to everyone who completed that course solo.  That is one tough race!

And as always, thanks to the volunteers who carried our gear around the course, set up aid stations for us, kept track of the timing and always gave us a smile and a cheer!

Please note there is no Peaman race this weekend (some calendars incorrectly have it on this Sunday).  The next Peaman is on Mother's Day, May 13.  It will be a 3/4 mile swim and 3.1 mile run.