As Hawaii Island was blasted with yet another winter weather advisory over the weekend, the ominous cold and rainy conditions didn’t keep Peaman’s 330th event from taking off without a hitch. ADVERTISING As Hawaii Island was blasted with yet another
As Hawaii Island was blasted with yet another winter weather advisory over the weekend, the ominous cold and rainy conditions didn’t keep Peaman’s 330th event from taking off without a hitch.
Participants huddled closely together to keep warm amidst the downpour of rain and watched in awe as high surf crashed repetitively along Kona’s coastline, intensifying the already gloomy, choppy and murky swim start.
“The swim conditions is actually not that bad,” said Peaman while taking off his pea-green colored rain jacket. “If the sun was shining, no one would be talking about how bad the ocean looks. We are just spoiled to have beautiful weather for most of the year.”
Peaman was right. As the fortunate ones to live in year-round paradise, it was time to shed the self-pity. It is certainly better than having to endure the polar vortex that continues to wreck havoc over the rest of the country.
In the men’s race for first, Kona’s Luis De La Torre showed no mercy as he established a comfortable lead after the turbulent swim, winning the 0.5-mile swim and 3.9-mile run in a great time of 36 minutes and 59 seconds.
The battle for second turned out to be a duel between new Kona resident Adam Ankrum and part-time Kona resident Kevin Moats. Ankrum, who works as an emergency room doctor at Kona Community Hospital, had just finished a 25-hour shift when he decided to jump into the biathlon.
“I wore my fins today,” Ankrum said. “I thought I would need the extra help after my long shift.”
Ankrum chose his swim weapon wisely as it was just enough to give him an edge over Moats who exited the water 30 seconds back.
As with most biathlon and triathlon events, the race for second came down to the run, with Ankrum and Moats swapping places a few times. In the end, it was Ankrum who had the most gas left in the tank to finish in 40:53. Moats followed 26 seconds back in 41:19.
The women’s race shaped up similarly to the men’s, with the race being decided on the run course.
Megumi Masuda of California used her fast swim to get a head start on the rest of the women’s field, exiting the swim at just over 14 minutes. A little over a minute back was Kona’s Anita Leao, followed by Jennifer Stabrylla and myself.
Overcast skies kept the run route fairly cool as I took the lead from Masuda 1.5-miles into the run, and went on to finish fourth overall and first for the ladies at 41:46.
Leao used her strong swim and run to take second place at 43:56, while Masuda rounded out the women’s top three at 45:00.
In the Split Pea relay division, Frambroise Haudry and Yves Tolleron teamed up to top the field at 47:02. Jim McCleery edged out Aimee Kolman in the 0.5 swimmer’s division, 14:10 to 14:11, and Bogdan Barbewski topped the 3.9 runner’s division with a stellar time of 24:48.
On the 200-yard swim and 1-mile run Pea Wee course, Titus McEntee finished first in 11:21 with Joel McEntee a few strides back in 11:27. Third overall for the male division went to last year’s series champ, Kanaipono Eckart in 11:59.
First for the females and taking her second win of the year was Lainey Eckart in a fabulous time of 12:14. Following Eckart was Lilo Fyrileiv in 12:28, and a barefooted Hanna White in third at 19:42.
Mike DeCarli and Peaman topped the Pea Wee Split Peas relay division with their combined time of 55:54. Evan Curry finished the 200-yard swim division in 4:25, and Alec Ankrum blazed the one-mile run in 6:45.
Team Mango’s Sprint Triathlon
In a bit of catch-up news, on Feb. 23, Team Mango featured yet another fun event, this time a Sprint Triathlon consisting of a 0.25-mile swim in Kailua Bay, 14-mile bike on Alii Drive, and a swift 2-mile run.
Matty Reed, a 2008 Olympian and professional triathlete, set the course record in 2011 with a speedy 54 minutes and 5 seconds.
It was exciting for spectators to watch the race that year as uber-cyclist and pro triathlete, Chris Lieto, also raced and battled it out with Reed all the way to the tape. Both crossed in a photo finish tie with Reed finishing just a hair in front of Lieto – giving Lieto the same time, but second place.
Glancing over the results from previous years, only three other men have finished within the 54-minute mark.
In 2012, Thomas Vonach proved to be nearly as fast as Reed and Lieto, finishing in 54:07. Chad DePontes, who used to tear up the triathlon scene with his wicked fast times in the ’90s, finished the Sprint Triathlon in 54:20 in 1994. And Canadian pro triathlete, Michael Simpson, topped the field in 2007 with his time of 54:42.
On the women’s side, only two finish times went under the 1-hour mark. As an amateur, Kona’s Bree Wee set the record of 58:48 in 2007. After rising to the pro ranks, she finished in 59:30 in 2010.
Although no records were broken Sunday, nearly 50 people showed up to sunny and near-perfect race conditions for a last chance fitness test before Lavaman Waikoloa on March 30. Even Jim Lovell with JTL Timing came out for the fun to let participants play with his new chip timing system.
Once again, Vonach was the fastest of the day as he blazed through the course in a solid 56:57.
Defending champ, Michael DeCarli, finished second in 1:00:12, improving his overall time by nearly two minutes from last year. A few minutes back was Jeremy Withrow, who rounded out the men’s top three with his time of 1:02:30
In the women’s race, Winona Chen proved to be in great shape for the upcoming Lavaman, winning in a great time of 1:06:58. Just a minute back and in second place was Jennifer Ward at 1:07:57, with Canadian Shirley Van Dyke once again finishing among the top three with her time of 1:12:26.
The team of Bob Smith (swim) and Phil Jones (bike/run) won the relay division with their combined time of 1:14:34.
With all of the fun over the last few weeks, it just goes to show — rain or shine — nothing beats training and racing in this beautiful paradise we call home.
