Wee & DLT Whirled Pea's Biathlon

Yesterday morning, a group of hearty peas showed up a world away from the east coast to compete in a Peaman event in remembrance of those affected by the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01.  Even though we are so far removed from where the attacks took place, everyone here still remembers that day, where they were and what they were doing.  Peaman gave a nice tribute in his starting remarks for the event, and everyone headed out on the 3/4 mile swim and 3.9 mile run.

Splashing and goofing around before the start.

The water was a little choppy, which made for a rough swim. I think I managed to make this my worst swim ever, as I was one of the last ones out of the water.  I'm not really proud of this, but if there would have been any way to quit the swim, I would have done it.  Unfortunately, there was really no way to get back to shore other than swimming! So I stuck it out and came in around 31 minutes.  And then I started debating whether I actually wanted to go out on the run.  I was mentally wiped out.  But after taking my leisurely time in transition, I decided that I might as well go out on the run, since it's actually the part of the event I'm good at. 

Most of the rest of the action happened before I even headed out of the water. The run-only group, including lots of peawees, lined up at the start line:

And Becky Prater, Jenny Payne, and Linda Goeth headed out on the run.

 Some peawees finished the race, including Katie Payne:

 Others started out on for their turn as part of a relay, including Lee-Ann Heely:

Danny Becker was apparently very happy with his swim:

As is typically the case, I started feeling better once I got out on the run course and was able to catch quite a few people.  The first person I had in my sights was Nori Becker.  We used to swim a similar pace, but she killed me out of the water - she is definitely getting faster.  It took about a mile into the run, but I caught up with her.

Then close to the turnaround, I saw her husband Danny coming back the other way.  He encouraged me to catch him, so I decided to pick up the pace and see if I could do it.  I caught up to him about a mile from the finish.  I was going at a pretty good clip, so I thought I would just cruise past him.  But he wasn't having any of that and picked up the pace to keep with me.  He had his Timex GPS watch on and was keeping an eye on it.  He kept yelling out our pace - 7:01/mile, 6:58/mile, 6:48/mile! I think he was a little surprised at how fast we were going.  Unfortunately I couldn't really respond to him, because I needed all the oxygen I could get to keep up that pace. With the pier in sight, we both picked up the pace even more. He took the unpaved route to the pier while I stayed on the road.  After a full-on sprint, I managed to squeak past him at the finish line. It took me a good several minutes to recover, but when I did, I saw that my run split was 29:20.  I never could have kept that up without Danny, so thanks to him! I'm hoping he enjoyed the run just as much!

Full results from the race are available here.  Tai Scarbrough came in first with a time of 44:20, followed by Stu Fitch and Rune Dahl.  Serena Chamberlain was first for the ladies in 55:03. Kainopono Eckhart and Duke Becker battled it out for the peawee title, with Kainopono coming in 6 seconds ahead of Duke in 12:45.

Up next is the run/bike/run event next Sunday hosted by Queen K Tri Club out at Kua Bay and a couple of run events on the Hilo side next weekend - I'll post more details on those when I post the results from the Hilo Bay 5k/10k this past weekend.

Run For Hope 2011

This morning was the much-anticipated Run for Hope at the Four Seasons Hualalai. This race is a local favorite because of the great post-race breakfast, awesome awards and the fact it's a fundraiser for cancer research on the Big Island. Last year, Jason won the 10k and got a dining credit for the Four Seasons. I won the 5k and got a free massage. So we were hoping for a similar result this year. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out quite the same this year.


Jason and I got to the race early to register and received our bib numbers, raffle ticket and went to pick up our chip. This was the first difference from last year - chip timing instead of JTL's timing. We were lucky we arrived early because they ran out of chips and numbers. So some people who ran the race weren't able to get their times recorded. I suppose it's a good sign that they had so many people turn out for the race, but it's a shame that not everyone could be shown in the results.

We also found out that they had changed the course this year. Instead of running the first 5k on the golf course, the course wound through the resort and along the oceanfront path. Then the 10k was two laps of the 5k course. Overall, I thought the course was great and a big improvement over last year, except for one major thing - the course was actually 3.5 miles and not 3.1 for the 5k and about 6.8 miles for the 10k instead of 6.2. Those changes make a big difference when you think you're finally getting close to the finish!

There also weren't any differences on numbers or bibs to tell the 5k runners and 10k runners apart. I ran most of the race in fourth place for the ladies, but I didn't know how many of those women were doing the 5k. When the woman I was following made the turn for the 10k, I thought I was going to get lucky and pull off another 5k win (and maybe a massage!). Unfortunately when I crossed the finish line, I saw that Karolina Wanke had run the 5k, had an awesome run, and smashed me by about 2 minutes.

After hanging out for a little while, I was able to get the camera and snap some photos of the 5k finishers, as well as Jason coming in for the 10k win. He had an awesome run on a long course.

Jason finishing the 10k

1st place woman in 10k - Melanie Aiona

Cheering for dad

Marissa Bryant-Manago

Sharon Dual

Kids complete the course with their dog!

After the race, it was time to head to the breakfast, which did not disappoint. There was plenty of food to refuel everyone after that run. Yogurt, pastries, fruit, eggs, sausage, rice and more! It was delicious and the setting on the luau grounds of the Four Seasons was great. During the breakfast time, there was also a canoe launching ceremony for cancer survivors and victims.

Then came the awards. They did things a little differently this year and the winners of each age group and overall won leis, but no big prizes. Instead, they saved all of the big prizes, such as massages, dining credits and a one-night stay for the raffle. Today was Jason's lucky day, though, as he managed to win a gift certificate to the Sea and Stars BBQ in the raffle. Same prize as last year, just a different way of winning it!

We're not sure yet how to find the results, but we'll update this post when we find the full results. For more pictures, click here. Congratulations to all participants and thanks to all the volunteers!

Lavaman Keauhou 2011

Yesterday was the 3rd year for Lavaman Keauhou - an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run). One of the great things about this race is the fact that it's local and they allow relays, so most people in town are either competing or know someone who is. This year was the first year that I've been part of a relay team and Jason's third year. Because of that, though, the number of pictures we were able to take suffered. Special thanks to Christine DeCarli who let me borrow some of her pictures for this post!

Defending husband and wife champions Penn Henderson and Rani Tanimoto were part of the race again this year. They had quite the cheering section with professional banners and all!


The race starts with the 1.5 K (.9 mile) swim in Keauhou Bay. This is one of the only races held down there, so it's a very different swim. At the pre-race meeting they mentioned that the swim course has depths of up to 125 feet! The other challenging part is that right about race time, the sun rises over Hualalai, creating some glare for the swimmers, but some beauty for the spectators.

Israel and Eddie O - 2/3 of the Lava 105 relay team - before the start.

This year, there was a wave start with the pros and relays starting first, followed three minutes later by the men and the women three minutes after that. First out of the water was Tim Marr, a professional triathlete from Oahu, followed closely by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen.

Both Jason and I were interested to see how our relay swimmers would do coming out the water. This year, Jason had the same relay team as last year, with Leahi Camacho as the swimmer, Gary Shields as the biker, and obviously Jason running. I was with a new team from Bianelli's - Malia Santos did the swim and George Goldstine did the bike. We knew Leahi would come out of the water fast, and she did, coming out ninth in 23:22.

Leahi Camacho

I had heard my swimmer was fast, but I hadn't even met her before the race, so I didn't know quite who to look for. I was pleasantly surprised to see the swimmer right behind Leahi had the number of my relay on her arm. She was out of the water in 23:26!

Malia Santos

Then George and Gary were off on the bike. Jason and I wanted to get back to transition pretty quickly so we could have time to warm up, so we headed back to the Keauhou Beach Resort as the bike portion started - with a killer climb up Kam III!

And that's where my picture taking stopped - I had to get serious about the run. Jason and I did a little warm up and then hung out in transition waiting for our bikers. Gary came in after a 1:02 bike and Jason was off to chase down a couple of people, including Tim Marr. George finished his bike in 1:21:58, and it was my turn to head out.

Albert Martinez heading into transition.

Garrett Oka in transition

That was one of the hardest run courses I have ever encountered. After a brief start, you immediately start to climb Alii Drive - a hill I try to avoid as much as possible. It gets a little better after that with some downhill portions into the Pit/End of the World. But then it goes offroad onto a lava rock trail. Unsure footing is not my strong suit, so it was a little slower going through there. After that portion, it's onto the golf course for most of the rest of the run. Lots of little rolling hills up and down. And for some reason, the whole place feels like a sauna. Of course that could have something to do with the fact we're running at 9 a.m.! It was a hot, brutal course.

Mercedes DeCarli coming into the finish area

Jason ended up making up some time on Tim Marr, but could never catch him, as Tim won the race overall. Jason's relay did come in next, making them the first place mixed relay team. For the men, Penn Henderson took second place and Benjamin Williams followed in third. On the ladies' side, Bree Wee was first, followed by Rae Bastoni and Rani Tanimoto. Our relay ended up in 6th place for the mixed relay, which was a pretty good result. Full results from the race are here.

As mentioned about, a lot of locals were in the race, so there were tons of people to cheer for. Congrats to everyone who participated!

Bryan Sawaya completes his first triathlon!

Awesome cheering section and some relay race participants!

Mike DeCarli placed 5th in his age group!

Relay team of Kris Whiting, Albert Martinez and Mercedes DeCarli

Two races are up this Sunday - the Run For Hope 5k/10k at the Four Seasons Hualalai and the Bieni Kohler-Johnson 5k on the HPA Campus in Waimea. We hope everyone comes out to participate in one of these great fundraising races!

New Special Edition and Run Big Shirts!

While we have a lot of people on the Big Island and elsewhere running big, we wanted to branch out and create some special edition shirts. So, we are proud to introduce our new Run Aloha shirts for ladies!


These high-quality Mizuno Inspire technical tees are super soft, with almost a cottony feel. They are printed with "Run Aloha" on the front and a small "Run Big" logo on the upper back.


They come in three colors, each with a heathered look to them.

Raspberry:

Ceramic:

Charcoal:

The shirts retail for $34.95 and are only going to be available for a limited time! Get yours now here!

We also have a new "Run Big." logo offering for men. For the past several months, our women's Nike anthracite (dark gray) "Run Big." shirt has been our most popular seller. Now you can get that same great shirt and color combination in men's sizes!



In other exciting news, you can now purchase these (and our other logo gear) at our new online store! Visit runbig.co and check out all that we have available. The links above will also take you to the product pages for each of the new items. Shipping is only $5 per order and payments can be made by Paypal or Google Checkout. We welcome any thoughts and feedback, too!

Volcano 2011

The Volcano Art Center's Rain Forest Runs in Volcano Village were held this past weekend. These are some of the most enjoyable runs on the island. Of course, they are also some of the more challenging ones, too! On the plus side, the weather is so much cooler than running most other places and the scenery is amazing. On the down side, the hills and the elevation make you work a little harder than down at sea level. Overall, however, these runs are definitely not to be missed!

Both Jason and I ran the half marathon this year - the first time for Jason and second time for me - which kind of explains the lack of pictures in this post, but I also forgot to charge the camera battery (oops!). There were some course changes this year that made for a more enjoyable run. Instead of running loops through a subdivision, we instead ran through the cute village of Volcano before heading out on Wright Road towards Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. We had perfect weather, cool, clear and no rain! The killer hill that comes around mile 6.5 was still there and it seemed longer this year (although it really wasn't). The best part of the run is turning back around and coming down that hill, though.

Another great thing about this run is the awards - all art made by artists at Volcano Art Center. Jason ended up coming in first in a time of 1:23:10, followed by Pete Bokanski in 1:23:36 and Lyman Perry was third in 1:24:53. For his win, Jason won a really nice koa antherium holder. Kona's Rani Tanimoto was first for the ladies in 1:27:51, followed by Hilo's Kim Pierce in 1:38:19. Third place was another Kona woman, Elda Carreon in 1:44:43. Full results for the half marathon are here.

Peter Ballerini and Jason post-race

I didn't have as good of a race time-wise as I was hoping, but I came in 1st in my age group in 1:49:38. Of course, it helps that the top three overall were all in my age group, but got overall awards! For the age group win, I got a fantastic photo of a honu! It's going to look great on the walls once I get it framed. Several other of our friends received awards in the half marathon, including Steve Pavao, DJ Blinn, Danny Jesser and Mary Edmonds, so congrats to them! Congratulations also to the members of our group that made the trip over to Volcano for the half - Megan Livingston, Kellie Kurashige, Maggie Leite, and Peter Ballerini.

Kristina and Bryan Sawaya with Lee-Ann Heely.

We also had several running group members participating in the 10K or 5K. Congratulations to Kristina Sawaya, Christine DeCarli, Bryan Sawaya, Mercedes DeCarli (who won her age group!), Lexi DeCarli, Garrett Oka, Lee-Ann Heely, Payton Au, Orestes Barrios, Sean Jesser (age group winner), and Chenoa Jesser (age group winner). Members of our group really cleaned up the awards, too. Here's a photo of the award winners:

Full results from the 10k are here and 5k are here. There was also a little snafu with the 10k course, so the first 15 runners were grouped in a separate 5.7 mile run. Their results are here.

After the event, Jason and I spent some time exploring more of Volcano and the east side of the island. Unfortunately, the volcano wasn't really active this weekend, so we didn't see any active flows. But, we made a trip to Kalapana and saw where the lava flows earlier this year took out a house and a car. It was pretty crazy to be walking on lava that was only months old. And it was also amazing to see all the houses that are still located really close to those flows!

Car in lava in Kalapana

When we woke up on Sunday morning to head back to Kona, we were greeted with the weather people had warned us about - cold and rainy! I'm definitely glad the race was on Saturday with the clear, dry conditions. We may have to give a special mahalo to Mary Edmonds and family, who apparently gave Pele some gifts before the race to keep the weather nice. We may have to contribute next year, since it worked like a charm.

Congratulations to all the finishers! Mahalo to Volcano Art Center, race director Sharron Faff and all of the volunteers for continuing to make this a wonderful event! We can't wait for next year!

Pedal Till Ya Puke, Run Till Ya Ralph

As mentioned in yesterday's post, the other event taking place on this past Sunday was Peaman's Pedal Till Ya Puke, Run Till Ya Ralph, Papa Pea Pedal or Plod and Mad Dog Mile. This race is aptly named, as it is essentially a climb straight up a volcano, making most participants want to give back their breakfasts. The Pedal Till Ya Puke covers 6.5 miles from the bottom of Kaloko Road to the top on bike. The Run Till Ya Ralph is the same distance on foot. The Papa Pea Pedal or Plod starts midway up Kaloko and goes 3.5 miles to the top. The last distance is a 1-mile course from the top of Kaloko and back.

Exhausted runners at the end of the race

As Peaman says at the start of the race - it's easy, there's only one hill! But it is long and very steep in some sections. It also starts out warm at the bottom, but it's pretty chilly once you get to the top!

In the Pedal Till Ya Puke, Ty Scarbrough took first place, followed by Mark Schlicting and Layne Howard. Results are below:

1. Ty Scarbrough 45:53

2. Mark Schlicting 48:32

3. Layne Howard 52:09

4. Jeremy Withrow 56:45

5. Patrick McLain 1:00:09

6. Floyd Rhodes 1:03:28

7. Peter Hopp 1:09:30

8. Holualoa Pete 1:17:57

9. Tim Wiley 1:19:31

10. Gecko 1:20:11

11. Eddie Manoi 1:41:09

12. Bob Smith 1:24:05

13. Lori Montgomery 1:24:05

Allyson and Chris Prater and Bailey

In the Run Till Ya Ralph, Herman Rafol took first, followed by Jason and Juniper Hunter. After doing the 3.5 mile distance last year, I tackled the full distance this year, coming in at a time of 1:27:19. I'm pretty sure I would have had a faster time if I ran the Mana Road 10-miler, but this was a great experience. Unfortunately it doesn't make me like hills any better. Full results for the Run Till Ya Ralph are below:

1. Herman Rafol 1:01:10

2. Jason Braswell 1:02:09

3. Juniper Hunter 1:04:01

4. Jon Jokiel 1:04:33

5. Brad Bryson 1:05:39

6. Doug Leopold 1:09:09

7. Chris Prater 1:13:13

8. Steve Hill 1:13:42

9. Chris Smith 1:16:42

10. Wilfredo Duran 1:18:14

11. Ricci Bezona 1:20:51

12. Rob Van Geen 1:20:54

13. Caleb Westfall Drywall 1:21:13

14. Melissa Braswell 1:27:19

15. Linda Goeth 1:28:20

16. Wendy Howard 1:30:59

17. Steve Gould 1:31:38

18. Lisa Contaldo 1:45:39

19. Morgan Griffin 1:48:38

20. Daniel Hauanio 1:49:29

21. Caleb Westfall 1:52:55

22. Riley Wilson 1:52:56

23. Joe Loschiavo 1:55:29

24. Jeff & Dana & Jacob Strang 1:59:51

25. Nikki Enos 2:15:38

26. Amber Youderian 2:15:39

27. Dard Vader 2:15:37

Getting post-race tips from Papa Pea.

In the Papa Pea Plod, there were 21 hearty souls, including some pea-wees. Karl Honma took first, followed by Brian Otte and Frank Miller. Here are the results for the Papa Pea Plod:

1. Karl Honma 32:16

2. Brian Otte 44:36

3. Frank Miller 45:13

4. Duke Becker 48:52

5. Danny Becker 48:54

6. Allyson Prater 55:06

7. Abra Pintor 55:28

8. Julia Smith 55:36

9. Silas Wiley 55:38

10. Jenny Payne & Bailey 58:24

11. Karen Hand 59:47

12. Toni Reynolds 59:55

13. Papa Pea 1:01:08

14. Becky Prater 1:01:21

15. Jean Thompson 1:03:34

16. Julie Edens 1:03:35

17. Cindy Wild & Tasha 1:04:09

18. Lisa Barry 1:05:20

19. Hazel Rafol 1:13:26

20. Kevin Prater 31:42

21. Dr. Lisa Dinatale 1:26:43

Jenny and Becky - Papa Pea Plod Finishers!

Finally, the Mad Dog Mile had 9 participants with Mandy Schiff coming in first, followed by her dad Mike and then Nori Becker and her dog June (I'm assuming that's what Nori Toune means below).

Mad Dog Mile

1. Mandy Schiff 10:14

2. Mike Schiff 10:15

3. Nori Toune 10:54

4. Henry Schiff 11:22

5. Makena Becker 12:26

6. Elsa Honma 16:14

7. Marie Kuramoto 16:15

8. Jay Plasman 17:16

9. Peaman 17:24

Mile Participants Post-Race

After the race, Peaman gave prizes to pretty much everyone that stuck around and that capped off another great Peaman event. Thanks as always to Peaman and all of the volunteers!

2011 Mana Road 10s

Start of the Mana 10s

This past weekend there were two great running events on the Big Island - the Big Island Road Runners Mana Road 10s (10k and 10-miler) and Peaman's Pedal Till Ya Puke, Run Till Ya Ralph. Unfortunately, they were on the same day, so we were only able to go to one. Although we love both events, we chose the one that we could literally walk to - Peaman's Kaloko hill climbs.

Although we couldn't make it to the Mana Road race, we received the following pictures and results from the Big Island Road Runners about their race. Additional pictures can be found here. Mana Road is a scenic run through ranchland in Waimea. The weather is hit or miss - for last year's race it was chilly, windy and spitting rain; when Jason and I ran it a week ago, it was cool, clear and gorgeous. The runners this year were treated to some of the less favorable conditions, with another chilly, rainy and windy day. Some might say this is perfect running weather!

The course takes you out on a rolling dirt road, with a general uphill. After the 10k turnaround, the real climbing begins - miles 3-5 of the 10-mile distance are pretty steep in sections. But that makes for a nice fast run on the way back!
In the 10-mile distance, Billy Barnett came in first in a time of 1:00:16, followed by Chris Gregory (1:06:16) and Chris Mosch (1:07:26). For the ladies, Rani Tanimoto ran away with it in a time of 1:11:21, Sally Marrack finished second in 1:23:31 and Melissa Schad was third in 1:25:41. Full results are below.

Big Island Road Runners Mana 10's - 10 Mile Run August 7, 2011 Mana Road, Waimea, 7:30am
				Pace
Plc	Name		Time	(min/mi)
1	Billy Barnett		1:00:16	6:02
2	Chris Gregory		1:06:16	6:38
3	Chris Mosch		1:07:26	6:44
4	Mike Sullivan		1:08:15	6:50
5	Jason Thorp		1:10:01	7:00
6	Rani Tanimoto	F	1:11:21	7:08
7	Andrew J Langtry		1:16:57	7:42
8	Stephen Hunter		1:17:11	7:43
9	Keith Marrack		1:17:32	7:45
10	Patrick Leatherman		1:20:00	8:00
11	Nick AhYo		1:20:30	8:03
12	Steve Cosgrove		1:21:00	8:06
13	Penn Henderson		1:22:03	8:13
14	Kris Kiser		1:22:29	8:15
15	Sally Marrack	F	1:23:31	8:21
16	Sid Hoots		1:24:24	8:26
17	Melissa Schad	F	1:25:41	8:34
18	Lyle Balingit		1:28:30	8:51
19	Andrew M Langtry		1:29:17	8:56
20	Hannah Bakke	F	1:30:14	9:01
21	Tiffany Hirata	F	1:30:14	9:01
22	Heidi Seibel	F	1:30:16	9:02
23	Emily Taaroa	F	1:30:33	9:04
24	James Hank		1:30:48	9:05
25	Esra Lynch	F	1:30:53	9:05
26	Kendra Ignacio	F	1:32:13	9:13
27	Star Baker	F	1:40:40	10:04
28	Bindi Wiernicki	F	1:40:41	10:04
29	Jenna Fear	F	1:44:08	10:25
30	Ann Campbell	F	1:44:29	10:27
31	Charles Holzwarth		1:46:06	10:37
32	Jolene Mears	F	1:47:02	10:42
33	Katieri Kizer	F	1:50:23	11:02
34	Charles Heaukulani		2:00:53	12:05
35	Lee Otani	F	2:03:50	12:23
36	Rick Otani		2:03:52	12:23
37	Michael Gordan		2:08:18	12:50
38	Travis Obrey		2:09:57	13:00

Hannah Bakke and Tiffany Hirata

In the 10k, Lyndi Fielitz came in first overall in a time of 44:54. Second place for the ladies was Gaye Tatsuno in 52:54 and third place was Erin Rietow in 53:06. Coming in second overall and first place male was John Simmerman in 46:08, followed by Frank Grotenhuis in 48:00 and Sam Seibel in 49:21. Full results for the 10k are below:

				Pace
Plc	Name		Time	(min/mi)
1	Lyndi Fielitz	F	44:54	7:13
2	John Simmerman		46:08	7:25
3	Frank Grotenhuis		48:00	7:53
4	Sam Seibel		49:21	7:56
5	Lynn Fielitz		49:43	7:59
6	Mark Noetzel		49:56	8:02
7	Ray Ibarra		50:40	8:09
8	David Littrell		52:36	8:28
9	Gaye Tatsuno	F	52:54	8:30
10	Erin Rietow	F	53:06	8:32
11	Linus Tavares		54:13	8:43
12	Lindsay Englund	F	55:08	8:52
13	Jenna Nakao	F	55:11	8:52
14	Alison Mansfield	F	55:36	8:56
15	Tiffany Lecong	F	56:29	9:05
16	Tim Orr		56:53	9:09
17	Fernando Lopez		56:59	9:10
18	Rolando Vasquez		56:59	9:10
19	Eli Waltz		58:01	9:20
20	Patrick Donovan		58:19	9:23
21	Jessica Johnson	F	58:38	9:26
22	Cassandra Hertz	F	59:02	9:29
23	David Hammes		1:01:21	9:52
24	Karen Littrell	F	1:01:54	9:57
25	Peter Wagner		1:03:32	10:13
26	Johnnelle Chun	F	1:04:32	10:23
27	Josen Ho		1:06:18	10:40
28	Amy Tatsuno	F	1:07:10	10:48
29	Manu Hanano	F	1:07:43	10:53
30	Harvey Nakasone		1:07:48	10:54
31	Morgen Bahurinsky	F	1:09:48	11:13
32	Bri Standing	F	1:10:30	11:20
33	Barbara Nash	F	1:11:49	11:33
34	Ryan Chun		1:13:25	11:48
35	Craig Stevens		1:13:57	11:53
36	Clint Zenigami		1:18:07	12:34
37	Melora Purell	F	1:19:32	12:47
38	Kelly Heaukulani	F	1:25:19	13:43

The winners of each of the races received bottles of wine. John Simmerman and Billy Barnett showed theirs off for the camera:

Congratulations to all participants and to Big Island Road Runners for another great event. We'll make it a point to be there next year!