After 24 years of hosting Team Mango Racing events, founder and race organizer, Carl Koomoa, has perfected things to a science — successfully hosting three triathlon events over the past few weeks in the midst of Kona’s busy Ironman season.
The 10-time Ironman World Championship finisher — simply known as “Gecko” — says that he is more than happy to do it for the community that volunteers so much of their time during the days leading up to, and during, the world championship race that happened on Oct. 8.
“This is my way to include the community,” Koomoa said. “We have everyone who come in from around the world, and our community is always sharing the aloha spirit and volunteering. So Team Mango events is a way for them to have some fun and blow off steam at the same time.”
Koomoa added that he too, volunteered as water patrol during the swim portion of the Ironman race, riding up and down Kona’s coastline on his new aqua bike.
“My job was to patrol the seawall for people pirating the race,” he said. “I actually stopped three people from trying to get in (the swim race) as they tried to work their way into the field. You’d be shocked to see what some people try to do.”
Koomoa said that Sunday’s event – the Post Ironman Sprint Triathlon – was the most popular of the trio of events that began with Team Mango’s Pre-Ironman Triathlon Challenge on Sept. 25, followed by the Morning After Triathlon on Oct. 9.
“I think the distance (a ¼-mile swim, 10-mile bike, and 2-mile run), and having it the week after Ironman makes it so popular,” he said. “Everyone is so inspired.”
The Race
Inspiration that lingered from watching the Ironman World Championships made for an exciting showdown among Big Island youth at Sunday’s Post Ironman Sprint Triathlon.
The event featured a short ¼-mile swim in Kailua Bay, 10-mile bike along Alii Drive, followed by a 2-mile sprint – a perfect distance to go “all out” from start to finish.
After the fury of thrashing arms and legs had settled down, it was 11-year old Aiden Ankrum who ran to the top of the cement stairs in first with a fast swim split of 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
Right on Ankrum’s heels and speeding into T1, the swim-to-bike transition, was a chase pack made up of Andrew Colson (4:31), Malcolm Davis (4:32), and Josiah Randerson (4:39).
However, it was 15-year old Randerson who had the quickest transition and emerged from T1 as the new race leader.
Randerson, who is a sophomore at Kealakehe High School, said that his goal is to someday compete in a ITU (International Triathlon Union) event, a fast paced Olympic Distance triathlon race featuring 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run.
“I have been practicing my transitions at home,” Randerson said. “Knowing that ITU racing is such a fast transition I really wanted to work on that today. So I basically had everything on my bike except for my helmet and race-belt. All I had to do was clip on my race-belt and helmet strap, then go.”
Out on the short 10-mile bike course along Alii Drive that began from the Kailua Pier and turned at Kahaluu Beach Park, excitement continued to build as top competitors jostled for position.
As participants pedaled their way back toward the Kailua Pier, it was Davis who blazed into T2 (bike-to-run transition) first and had the fastest bike split of 27:11, followed by Randerson (27:22), and Juan Carlos (27:47).
Yet again, it was Randerson’s fast transition skills that had him leaving for the quick 2-mile sprint on Alii Drive in first, with Davis close behind and Carlos in the third position.
As spectators began to crowd the finish line area and made guesses of who would be coming in first, Randerson’s mother, Lynnette, predicted that it would most likely be Davis.
Davis, a 16-year old junior at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, is no stranger to triathlons and had a breakout year in the sport.
The Kapaau resident, who is also on the swim team and runs cross-country, topped his age group in the 19-and-under division at this year’s Lavaman Waikoloa Olympic Distance Triathlon and placed an impressive 19th overall with a blazing time of 2:14:54
Davis also competed in July’s Hilo Triathlon and finished fifth overall among the elite division, with his time of 1:56:19.
And Lynnette was right.
Heading full speed toward the finish line was Davis, lifting his arms up to claim his first Team Mango Triathlon victory with a time of 45:47. Randerson finished close behind in second place at 46:04, with Carlos in third at 46:13.
In the women’s division, Nina Hasler won in a time of 59:57, with Lori Montgomery and Leigh Davidson finishing in the next two spots at 1:00:19 and 1:05:10 respectively.
“It’s pretty awesome (to win),” Davis said. “It’s such a great atmosphere and I just love being here. I just came out here and didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t seen the course before and I actually took a wrong turn on the run.”
Randerson agreed and said that starting the run, Davis passed him at the end of the seawall to take over the lead, but it wasn’t long before he noticed Davis running off course.
While Randerson could’ve easily taken advantage over Davis’ mishap — in true sportsmanship — he yelled at Davis to get back on course.
“When I saw that Malcolm was here at the start, I felt so intimated and I was like, oh great,” Randerson said. “I didn’t know what place I would be but I knew he was definitely going to push me. But seeing him go off course, I didn’t want it to go down that way. And I’m happy with my finish – it feels good. I’ve never been so close to the front in any race.”
Randerson said he injured his big toe and ankle over the summer that took time to heal. Now healthy, Randerson is looking forward to a strong 2017 season with two Olympic Distance triathlon events on his race schedule — Lavaman Waikoloa and the USA Triathlon National Championships in Omaha, Nebraska.
Davis too, is looking forward to next year.
“I’m headed to the (ITU) Age Group World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2017. I can’t wait.”