Saturday’s 19th annual Kona Brewers Festival lived up to its reputation as the sold-out event attracted more than 2,000 attendees who indulged in savory island food specialties with featured ales and lagers from around the country. ADVERTISING Saturday’s 19th annual
Saturday’s 19th annual Kona Brewers Festival lived up to its reputation as the sold-out event attracted more than 2,000 attendees who indulged in savory island food specialties with featured ales and lagers from around the country.
As the premier beer event in Hawaii, it has also become a tradition for athletes taking part in the multiday celebration of events with the seventh annual Run for the Hops 10K and 5K races.
Overcast skies with a light drizzle treated nearly 600 racers to cooler temperatures than Kailua-Kona’s notoriously blazing hot, sunny weather. With the BMW Hawaii dealership serving as the start and finish for both running events, the courses looped through Old Kona Airport Park’s Makaeo Walking/Jogging path and the Old Industrial Area, offering spectators a front row seat to all the action.
Kevin Gravina from Cambridge, Mass., wasted no time as he shot to the front of the competitive 10K field, leaving Laupahoehoe’s Alan Ryan, Kealakehe’s Thunder Frost, and Kenneth Stover of Kailua-Kona on a high chase.
Gravina, who was here on vacation to escape the last remnants of what was a brutal East Coast winter, took advantage of the ideal weather conditions to win in a speedy time of 37 minutes and 2 seconds.
“I don’t do well in the heat at all,” Gravina said. “Having some light rain definitely worked in my favor. Overall, I felt pretty good.”
Gravina used the race to gain some speed work as he plans to compete in next month’s Boston Marathon and hopes to finish in less than 2 hours and 55 minutes.
“I’m really looking forward to Boston this year,” Gravina said. “Especially after last year’s tragedy, there’s definitely a different but special feel to it.”
Finishing second was Frost, who used a final kick to out-sprint Ryan 37:45 to 37:56. Frost, a junior at Kealakehe High School who finished with a stellar cross-country season last year, is quickly becoming a threat within the local running circuit. Frost also won last month’s Sweetheart Shuffle 5K in 17:38.
In the women’s race, I managed to hold onto the lead and finished first in 39:41. Washington’s Kirsten Clarke-Hollingber, who was here to take part in the Kona Brew festivities, finished second in 42:01.
“I’m from Washington, but I thought it was extremely hot and humid today,” said Clarke-Hollingber of the soggy conditions. “I think I may have started out a bit too fast as I did everything I could to hang on in the end.”
A few strides back was Meaghan Munroe from Cambridge, Mass., in a great time of 42:15.
In the 5K, Kona’s Luis De La Torre used his quick leg turnover to click off an average pace of 5:40 minutes per mile, winning in a fabulous time of 17:35. In second place was Brian Pruitt in 18:04, followed by James Resor in 18:27.
Kailua-Kona’s Anita Sen outpaced Kerstin Busse to take the female division in 22:27. Busse followed in second at 22:46, with Captain Cook’s Kollette Stith rounding out the women’s top three in 23:45.
Inaugural Goatman Off-road Triathlon
The following day, Kekaha Kai Beach State Park came to life as multisport enthusiasts and co-owners of Bike Works, Grant Miller and Janet Higa-Miller, decided to have some fun by putting on Big Island’s first off-road triathlon.
“Both Grant and I are mountain bikers at heart,” Higa-Miller said. “We decided it was time to introduce locally the kind of adventure and fun that off-road maniacs like us enjoy.”
Kekaha Kai offers beachgoers a stunning white sandy beach, surrounded by turquoise-blue waters and shimmering black lava fields. A closer glance at the crusty and molten solidifications belies numerous trails that have become home to wild mountain goats.
“We call it the Hawaiian Slick Rock,” said Miller of the smooth pahoehoe lava sections of the bike course in reference to the famous Slick Rock mountain bike trails near Moab, Utah. “We started riding these goat trails in the lava fields 15 to 20 years ago. It’s one of the few places to mountain bike on the island.”
Wild mountain goats are easiest to find in higher elevations on the island although many are often seen trekking alongside the barren lava fields of Queen Kaahumanu Highway. Over time, these paths have become the perfect mountain bike route for those seeking adventure.
Having all of the right elements in place, the couple couldn’t resist taking advantage of the island’s natural wonders and offer extreme racers a challenge in their backyard.
The free inaugural event featured a 1/3-mile swim in the pristine waters, a 9.7-mile mountain bike ride over technical and rugged lava terrain, capping off with a sun-drenched 3.5-mile run over loose rocks, dirt road and sandy beach.
As difficult as it was to keep the inaugural event off the radar, Higa-Miller said the invitation-only cap of 35 participants was filled within the first couple of days.
“It was amazing the immediate interest,” Higa-Miller said. “Not only from Kona but from mountain bikers in Waimea and Hilo too.”
On Sunday, the action up at the front heated up quickly with Kona’s Thomas Vonach and Luis De La Torre exiting the ocean and running up the beach together, just behind swim leader Keoni Smith.
From there, all eyes were fixed on Vonach and De La Torre as they raced neck and neck, exchanging the lead a few times along the way.
“Racing Luis is always a great thing,” said Vonach, a two time 40-44 age group champion at the XTerra World Championships in Maui. “When he’s there we both know that we’ll push each other till the end as we both want to win.”
It wasn’t until the hot and steamy run where Vonach pulled away, winning the inaugural off-road triathlon in a blazing 1:15:36. De La Torre kept it close, finishing in second place at 1:16:17. Michael DeCarli followed in third with a solid race time of 1:33:47.
“I love off-road races,” Vonach said. “It was really a cool experience because there were so much variety in such a short race.”
Vonach added that it wasn’t an easy feat having to traverse over an ancient lava flow, dirt roads, sandy beachfront and unique goat trails. Not to mention some pretty technical and rough spots on the bike course.
“Of the many XTerra triathlons I’ve competed in, this was the only race where the bike course was entirely over lava,” he said. “It was definitely challenging but very unique in that way.”
Kristie Cotton was the lone female brave enough to take on the arduous challenge. Cotton finished 8th overall in 1:54:33.
In the shortened goat course that featured a 1/3-mile swim, 4.5-mile bike, and 3.5-mile run, Higa-Miller was the first to finish in a great time of 1:36:34. Kona’s Sandra Kimball was next in 2:14:48.
The team of Chris Gregory (swim, run) and Alan Hata (bike) took the relay long course division with their combined time of 1:35:05. In the relay short course, Sandra Kimball (swim, run) and her 10-year old son David (bike), finished with a team time of 2:14:38.
With positive feedback from athletes and area businesses offering support, mountain biking events and off-road triathlons may become a permanent fixture on our racing calendar.
“If all goes well, we will definitely do it again next year,” Miller said. “There’s some plans in the works, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
