KAILUA-KONA — Athletes from countries across the world bring the unique experiences of their cultures with them to Hawaii Island annually as they undertake the grueling challenge presented by Ironman. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Athletes from countries across the world bring
KAILUA-KONA — Athletes from countries across the world bring the unique experiences of their cultures with them to Hawaii Island annually as they undertake the grueling challenge presented by Ironman.
And so it’s only fitting that in the spirit of aloha, Hawaiian practitioners and artisans came together to offer the eclectic melting pot of humanity that congregates in Kona every October a chance to engage with the Native Hawaiian culture around which the race is built.
A week of festivities preceding Ironman continued Monday night at the Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel with the Heroes of Hawaii celebration, which was coordinated by Island Breeze, a Big Island production company.
“Events like this I like, because they tie in the spirit of the island, the people who live here and the energy here. That’s what makes this race what it is,” said Mark Allen, a six-time winner of Ironman and a guest speaker at Heroes of Hawaii. “If you took all the athletes and put them in some other location, the race wouldn’t be anything like it is here.
“(This event) honors the island, honors the people, honors the history here and honors the legacy of what Ironman has been in Hawaii.”
Against the backdrop of Kailua Bay at the hotel’s Luau Grounds, race participants and their families were offered tutorials and hands-on experiences with traditional Hawaiian practices like Ohe Kapala, lei making and coconut husking while loudspeakers broadcast live music across the space.
Children bounced happily from station to station, greeted by warm smiles and a chance to learn.
Dawn Prebula, a 23-year member of the United States Coast Guard who won the right to compete in Ironman this year after taking part in an earlier race in California, was accompanied at the event by her husband and their three children.
She said one of her primary goals this week is not to get over-stressed under the pressure of the pending triathlon, but rather to find a balance and absorb the first opportunity her entire family has ever had to be in Hawaii together.
The first part of that process was attending Heroes of Hawaii.
“It looked like a chance to come and learn about Hawaii,” Prebula said. “With my kids missing school this week and next week, it’s good for them to learn. This is a chance to learn about the culture, and any opportunity we get to do that and have fun at the same time, it’s wonderful.”
One activity Prebula’s children particularly enjoyed was Ohe Kapala, or the art of bamboo stamping, a traditional Hawaiian decorative practice typically done on kapa, a Native Hawaiian fabric.
“People would carve these by hand out of bamboo and design clothing and things for their families with it,” said Bridget Butler, who helped operate the station. “Before the Hawaiians had a written language, these are the symbols they would use. These days, people put (the designs) on t-shirts or hats, and you’ll still see it traditionally on the kapa.”
Across the lawn, Peniamina Patu offered a demonstration on coconut husking, helping novices navigate the fruit so they don’t have to spend hours banging shells with hammers or driving their cars over the coconuts in strained attempts to gain access to the sweet prize inside.
“In the islands, we call ourselves the richest people in the world,” he explained. “The reason why — out of the coconut, we create everything we use. We make plates to serve our food, we turn it into a bowl for drink or soup, everything. Then, we throw it away and get a new one tomorrow.”
Monday night’s event was the fourth of its kind, and Leina’ala Fruean, co-owner and co-operator of Island Breeze, said each year Heroes of Hawaii becomes a grander spectacle.
This time around, it was a group of students in the company’s Cultural Business Internship who staged the event, and its intricacies impressed even Fruean.
Beyond the educational stations, live music and exceptional scenery, attendees enjoyed a catered meal. Following the food was the introduction of “Ironman’s Heroes,” which included Allen as well as Heather Fuhr, who won the event in 1997.
“Most of us come for the race, but it’s so much more than that,” Fuhr said. “The island has something special that we keep coming back for, and this reminds us of the history of the island, which I think a lot of people don’t know about. The race brings a lot to the island, but the island gives a lot to us as participants.”
The evening wrapped up with a cultural blessing and a presentation put together by Island Breeze.
Fruean said it was a collaboration between the hotel, Ironman and her company that initially breathed life into the event, and the spirit of collaboration is also what has allowed Heroes of Hawaii to prosper and grow.
“The heart of it is to share our history, our culture,” Fruean said. “To share who we are and what we do.”
