For the past 20 years, Hilo’s Edgar Ombac, more popularly known as “Eddie O,” has been the entertaining voice on Big Island radio waves. His fun, engaging, quick-witted, yet cool and laid-back on-air style has always been a big hit with local listeners.
And over the years, the demand for Ombac’s talents extended far beyond the studio walls as well. Ombac is now the most sought after live announcer at various community and athletic events throughout the island.
But it wasn’t until he worked for KBIG FM in 1994 that he got his first taste of what the Kona IRONMAN World Championships were all about.
“I didn’t get into the sport of triathlon until I worked for KBIG as they used to cover the race in the mid 90’s,” Ombac said. “That’s where I first got introduced to not just triathlon, but IRONMAN. I was stationed on Queen K and getting cyclists when they headed up to Hawi. It was cool, and that’s when I thought in the back of my mind that someday, I would do this.”
But that “someday” wouldn’t happen until 2015, when Ombac competed in his first IRONMAN Hawaii 70.3 race in May, and then secured his slot through the Big Island Drawings two weeks later.
“The first five minutes I was like, ‘I can’t believe it, I’m going to do it, I’m going to cross that finish line,’” he said. “Then afterwards, it was like, what did I just get myself into?”
Ombac — who is originally from Burien, Wash. — said that he played soccer as a child growing up, and then football at John F. Kennedy high school. After getting injured he went out for the track and field team and excelled in the 110-meter hurdles.
From there, he moved to Hawaii in 1985 with hopes of running hurdles for the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s track team. But sadly, that same year they ended the men’s track and field program, leaving Ombac to contemplate his options. After a few years of not running and working in Oahu, Ombac decided to attend college in the Phillipines.
“And that’s where I started running again,” the 48-year old said. “I almost got my degree in mass communications but with a semester to go I got an offer to work for a commercial radio station. So after college I moved back to the states.”
The Big Island’s idyllic setting and laid back vibe eventually led Ombac to return, and this time, with an opportunity to work for KBIG FM in Hilo. Ombac said that he continued to run recreationally for fun and to maintain fitness while helping to raise his two twin daughters, Katrina and Skye.
As his twins got older, Ombac started bringing them to Kona to watch the world championship race and to volunteer, spurring their interest in the sport. It immediately became an annual family affair and later encouraged his daughters to run on the cross-country team for Waiakea High School.
Soon it became, “Dad, you’ve got to do this race someday!”
“It was Katrina and Skye who are my number one cheerleaders and the ones who encouraged me do to IRONMAN,” Ombac said. “But back then I knew it would be impossible to train for it trying to balance it all. Between taking them to school and working, I really had no time. And being a big fan of IRONMAN and seeing what many of the local athletes go through just to train for it, I knew the timing wasn’t right then.”
Ombac said that when the twins received scholarships to attend the University of Jamestown in North Dakota in 2014, he then realized that he would have the time to train with an opportunity presenting itself through June’s Big Island Drawings.
Now with training in full swing and the world championships just a month away, Ombac — who is self coached — says that the easiest way for him to balance it all is by setting priorities.
“The number one priority is getting the training in, followed by nutrition,” he said. “Work is kind of like second to training right now but they understand. I’m ready for this race to happen right now. Physically I’m not, though I will be. But mentally I’m ready.”
Ombac says that his toughest training weeks total 25 hours – four hours of swimming, 12-13 hours on the bike, with eight hours of running amidst splitting 40 hours of work between Nutrex Hawaii and Native FM – what Ombac describes as best of both worlds.
“Right now the radio part is more of a hobby, less pressure and less stress, and the team that I work with is just awesome,” he said. “The show runs Monday through Friday from 6-10 a.m. Then later in the day and on weekends were doing demos for BioAstin. It’s just perfect.”
And the hardest part for Ombac is sacrificing a lot of quality time with his girlfriend, Francie, and putting his social life on the back burner. Yet, what keeps his fire burning is knowing that it will be all worth it once he runs down a spectator filled and media crazed Alii Drive on Oct. 10.
“When I think of crossing that finish line, it’s a real elite group of people that can say they’ve done Kona. I look at it not as bragging rights, but what a real honor to be a part of that elite group. When I tell people that I’m planning to do Kona, they all know it and say, that’s the race we see on TV. So it’s a real honor — it’s like chicken skin!”
