Celebrating its 10th year, Jason and Melissa Braswell’s Wobble Gobble 6.5-mile, 3.5-mile, and 1-mile Run/Walk on Walua Road has become an annual tradition for those looking to burn off a few calories before the main holiday feast.
As Thanksgiving morning began quietly with a spectacular sunrise followed by a cloudless sky, somewhere along Walua Road, the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance.
Though it may have caught several innocent spectators by surprise, those who know of Thunder Frost find there is nothing unusual in hearing the thunderous beat of the 17-year old’s fleeting footsteps.
“I thought it would be fun to come out and do this race again,” Frost said. “I did it last year and came in right after Garrett (Prinslow).”
Last year, Prinslow and Frost ran neck and neck during most of the hilly and windy turns of the 6.5-mile course on Walua Road, with Prinslow outsprinting Frost for the win by 6-seconds. Being so close to winning, the Kealakehe senior returned once again to see if he could better his overall finish.
But this time, the race was filled with a star-studded field of All-BIIF cross-country standouts. Toeing the line next to Frost was Kealakehe’s speed demons — Ziggy Bartholomy, Adalberto Malagon, and Keili Dorn — all who were recently named to the all-BIIF first team. Also in the mix was Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s rising star, Daniel Cohen, who recently returned to running after pulling his quad muscle.
Right from the start, Frost and Bartholomy bolted to the front, leaving Malagon, Cohen, Dorn and the rest of the field on high chase.
“Ziggy was right with me until he hit the 3.5-mile turn,” Frost said. “Right after that it got a lot steeper and my pace dropped to the high sevens. When I looked back I saw (Cohen), and after the 6.5-mile turn I tried to book it down as fast as I could. It’s Daniel’s home turf as he lives on Walua Road.”
Frost went on to claim his first Wobble Gobble title with an overall winning time of 40 minutes and 18 seconds. Cohen sprinted in for second place at 41:11, with Malagon fending off a hard closing Zachary Kiawa (42:59) and Jon Jokiel (43:01) for third place in 42:48.
“I live on this road so I knew (the race) was happening,” Cohen said. “It was good to get out and get some exercise before Thanksgiving. I thought it was a nice run as it was the first time I’ve done it.”
In the women’s race, my son Cole and I baby jogged our way to victory and bettered our time from last year in a new stroller record of 43:15. Dorn followed in second at 47:33, with Kerstin Busse Blunt rounding out the women’s top three in 51:13.
Peter Oien’s 2006 record of 20:12 looked to be in jeopardy as Bartholomy began with a blistering pace out on the 3.5-mile course. Yet, as hard as he tried, Bartholomy’s 5:53 pace per mile would not be enough – finishing just 25 seconds shy of setting a new record. Bartholomy however, claimed victory with an impressive time of 20:36.
A distant second was Mitchell Dixon in 22:55, and Dave Bezaire in third place at 24:10. While last year’s defending champion and course record holder, Brooke Myers, once again decided to test the speed in her legs two weeks out from this month’s Honolulu Marathon.
If setting a new course record is any indication of a fast marathon finishing time, then Myers looks to be in great shape as she finished in a new record time of 23:05. Next in was Tonya Rude in 25:42, followed by Laura Ankrum in 26:51.
Jantzen Hing sprinted over the 1-mile course to finish first in 5:57. Logan O’Shea tried to keep it close finishing in 6:25, with Micah Winkler another minute back in 7:28.
Last year’s runner up, Tayvhe-Lei Kaupu-Galon, improved upon her time by 38 seconds to claim victory in 7:43. In second was Anna Catanzaro in 9:14, followed by Jenna Catanzaro in 9:31.
(Tri) ptophan Turkey Day Triathlon
What started off as a small group of eight people from Kris and Kym Kiser’s company engaging in a fun sprint triathlon on Thanksgiving morning, has now become the popular annual event penciled into everyone’s race calendar.
In its seventh year, the Kisers’ (Tri)ptophan Turkey Day Triathlon that featured a 1/3-mile swim in Kailua-Bay, 16-mile bike ride on Queen Kaahumanu Highway, followed by a swift 2-mile run on Alii Drive, once again filled up to its field limit of 100 participants in just two short days.
The husband and wife team never ceases to amaze in helping the community start off Thanksgiving morning with the just right amount of tryptophan boost needed for an unforgettable holiday treat. The laid-back Kiser vibe also helped to calm prerace nerves looming over Kaiakeakua Beach as participants awaited the countdown for the 7 a.m. mass start.
Perfect and tranquil ocean conditions must have suited Cody Ranfranz and Joshua Myrick well as after the arm thrashing were done and over with, the duo were the first to run up the beach in 7:04 and 7:06 respectively. Hot on their heels was a chase pack made up of David Wild, Luis De La Torre, and Chris Prater, with the women’s leaders, Kristen Old and Winona Chen running up the stairs together in 7:57.
After a fast transition, it quickly turned into an ITU-format race with individual competitors forced into a game of “stop-N-go” at each traffic light. This made it difficult for participants to ride away from one another during the 16-mile bike course on Queen Kaahumanu Highway that added another element of excitement among the top contenders.
Fastest bike split of the day went to DeCarli (37:57), who hit the bike-to-run transition together with De La Torre, with Konawaena Tri Coach Wild not too far behind.
Once out on Alii Drive for the 2-mile sprint, De La Torre zipped past DeCarli to take the overall lead, and continued on to victory with his time of 58:56. For a second year in a row, DeCarli’s valiant efforts placed him in second at 59:25, followed by Wild in third at 1:01:32.
Last year’s runner up, Rebecca McKee, decided to finally put her stamp on this race by taking the women’s title with her time of 1:05:42. The race for second continued to be a close duel between Old and Chen, with Old outsprinting Chen, 1:08:05 to 1:08:18 respectively.
It hardly goes without saying that we have much to be thankful for in having the opportunity to take part in first-class community events from husband and wife race organizers such as Big Island Running Company’s Wobble Gobble Runs and Kiser Motorcycle’s (Tri)ptophan Turkey Day Triathlon.
And just like Frost’s performance at every running event he enters, you can say that by the end of the morning, the Braswells and Kisers had everyone pumped up and “Thunder-ing for Turkey.”