More than 200 runners and walkers took to the beautiful trails of Puuwaawaa Forest Reserve on Saturday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Run for the Dry Forest 10K, 5K, and Keiki Dash running events.
Race Director Lyman Perry began the event in 2005 with a mission to increase public involvement and education of the historic Puuwaawaa region, and said that he was extremely happy with this year’s turnout.
“We had more people registered online than ever before,” Perry said. “We had 250 pre-registered, but in terms of finishers, we had 215 combined from both races.”
Puuwaawaa lies on the northern flank of Hualalai and is the namesake of the greater ahupua’a (traditional land management area) in the North Kona District, encompassing 35,000 acres of land that extends from sea level at Kiholo Bay to a mile in elevation near Hualalai’s summit.
Meaning “the many-furrowed hill,” the higher Puuwaawaa region is protected as a State Forest Reserve and features an exotic native dryland forest, home to endangered bird and plant species and its most prominent landmark — an ancient volcanic cinder cone.
The towering grassy mound — shaped like an upside down Jello mold — can be seen for miles while driving the upper road of Mamaloahoa Highway from Kona to Waimea. This unique landmark boasts being the oldest surface feature on all of Hualalai and is said to have formed from an explosive burst of lava over 100,000 years ago.
Yet what draws Hawaii residents and visitors from around the globe to test their mettle at the annual running event are the challenges of conquering the off-road single-track trail circumventing this majestic cinder cone.
Just to navigate one’s way over loose rocky footing, narrow winding turns, along with a sharp elevation gain of 1,200 feet over the first three miles can certainly leave one feeling the burn in their lungs and legs.
But the picturesque views from the top of Puuwaawaa makes it all worthwhile – offering unfiltered panoramic portraits of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai and the Kohala Mountains before the crazy steep descent toward the finish line.
“It’s so different from any other race on the island,” said Perry, a botanist with the State of Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife who works primarily with endangered plant species. “It’s one of the only off-road foot races on the island. People get to go to a place that you don’t ordinarily have access to. It puts them in touch with Puuwaawaa and allows them to see how special this place really is.”
In the extreme trail 10K footrace, Pahoa’s Billy Barnett claimed his 5th consecutive victory with his time of 42 minutes and 22 seconds. Following in second place for the second year in row was Kailua-Kona’s Patrick Stover in 42:46, with Great Britain’s Barnaby Gray in third at 44:48
“I don’t think anybody has ever broken 40 minutes on the 10K course,” Perry said. “Luis De La Torre came close one year and finished at 40 minutes flat in 2007. He still holds the course record, but I know Billy has the most wins at five.”
On the women’s side, Kona’s Bree Wee won her first Puuwaawaa 10K crown with her time of 51:21. Switzerland’s Sandra Daenzer tried to keep it close and placed second with her time of 53:27, while Hilo’s Kimberly Pierce rounded out the women’s podium in 55:59.
In the shorter and less painful 5K race, Hilo’s Alex Wang outpaced Kailua-Kona’s Elliott Parsons to win in a time of 21:47. Parsons finished a few strides back in 22:05, and in third was Orestes “Chico” Barrios, who said he ran his way from the back of the field to finish in 25:11.
“I was talking to a friend when the race suddenly started,” Barrios said. “So I began probably 30-seconds after everyone else. But it was good for me to start in the back as I was motivated to get to the front. It was my best race yet!”
Kona’s Jessie Krause easily won the women’s event in 25:22, with the next two podium spots going to Papaikou’s Katie Young and Hilo’s Melanie Dudley with their times of 27:18 and 28:08 respectively.
Perry added that he never envisioned he would be celebrating the race’s 10th anniversary and is happy that the event managed to make it this far. The only year the race was not held was in 2008, due to extremely dry conditions.
Saturday’s event featured the Kauila tree (Colubrina oppositifolia), a hardwood known from the Kona region that is federally listed as an endangered species. Proceeds of the event went to the restoration and conservation of all dry forests in Hawaii.
Perry credited the event’s success to the ongoing support and partnerships with People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawaii (PATH), U.S. Forest Service, Ironman Kokua program, and Elliott Parsons, the project manager and ahupuaa coordinator for Puuwaawaa who is employed by the Division of Wildlife and Forestry.
And there were also the handful of dedicated trail runners to thank that make it back to the start line, year after year.
“Some people do it year after year so that made it nice to see that the event is meaningful to people,” he said. “We always try to do it two weeks after Ironman, and it also takes place during this time of the year because there is no bird or mammal hunting so it’s a good time.”
One of the highlights of the morning began with 92-year old, Bill Spangrud, of Kamuela, who finished the 5K-trail run with an impressive time of 1:05:13 — leaving numerous competitors in his dust.
And on the opposite end of the age spectrum was Honokaa’s 9-year old running phenom, Kyle Ignacio, who put forth a stellar time of 1:02:47 – finishing 29th overall on the gnarly 10k trail course.
Some may recall that Ignacio became the youngest runner to complete the Big Island Triple Crown Half Marathon Series this year — a distance of 13.1-miles for each event — that included the Big Island International Half Marathon (2:12:01), the Kona Half Marathon (2:15:42), and Rainforest Runs Half Marathon (2:12:38). Truly incredible!
And of course, you can always count on good ol’ Jon Kunitake to be at every start line – Holualoa’s legendary runner, jockey, and Kona Coffee aficionado. Kunitake finished the 5K-trail run in a great time of 33:51.
For Perry, who is known to be one of the most accomplished distance runners in the State, his hope is for the event to continue to grow with next year’s trail runs set for Saturday, Oct. 28th.
But for now, the 49-year old plans to shift gears and start thinking about another start line — December’s Honolulu Marathon.
“This year will be my 21st Honolulu Marathon that I will do in a row. I’ve done it every year since 1996, so I feel like I kind of have to do it even if I haven’t trained. I’m not going to race it – I’ll just run it for fun. I’m hoping for around a 3:30 finish. It’ll be fun.”