For over a decade, runners taking part in the annual Wobble Gobble have made the Thanksgiving Day running events a part of their holiday tradition, and this year was no different.
It was the largest turnout in the event’s 12-year history as 370 runners and walkers gathered at the Walua Road trailhead for a running event that featured three different distances: 1-mile, 3.5-mile and 6.4-mile.
Hosted by Big Island Running Company, the Wobble Gobble is one of the few events held on Thanksgiving morning where a donated can of food for the West Hawaii Food Bank is the entry fee.
“We really look forward to seeing all of the families get out and get active,” said race director Melissa Braswell. “From the kids at the stroller age all the way up to the high school level – it’s great to see everyone coming out with their families and doing something together on Thanksgiving morning.
“We take any can food or non-perishable food item as the entry and that’s another great feeling we get from putting on this event. We later drive around with it in the back of our truck until the food bank opens, and then see how many pounds we were able to collect. We usually get around one pound per person, last year we turned in around 290-lbs of food.”
The event was started from humble beginnings by two of Kona’s elite athletes, Eric Neilsen and Karlyn Pipes. For the first five years, it was named “The Wobble and Gobble Runs” and instantly attracted the island’s top runners.
Braswell said that after she and her husband, Jason, moved to Kona in 2009 to open their Big Island Running Company store on Alii Drive, she was asked by Pipes if they were interested in taking over the event. Braswell said “sure,” then decided to rename it “Wobble Gobble” as it seemed to flow better, and she has been organizing the annual event ever since.
After all these years, the Wobble Gobble continues to thrive with a family-oriented, grassroots feel to it. There are no sign-ups, no registration fees, no bibs or chip timing – just show up at 8 a.m. and get ready for a good time with a few hundred friends and family members.
The Wobble Gobble also continues to be an annual tradition among the fleet footed, when local talent gets an opportunity to settle friendly rivalry on the race course.
“We definitely get the fast high school kids or people who are training for the Honolulu Marathon and other races wanting to get their speed going, but you also have people walking the 1-mile event so it’s a great mixture.”
In the race for bragging rights in the 3.5-mile race, it was Konawaena’s Lawrence (Rama) Barrett and Kealakehe’s Ziggy Bartholomy, running stride for stride on the way up the windy turns of Walua Road.
At last year’s race, Bartholomy set a new course record of 19 minutes and 54 seconds, outsprinting Konawaena’s Cody Ranfranz by just one second.
This time, Ranfranz was sidelined with an injury and decided to watch all of the action unfold while handing out medals at the finish line. He didn’t have to wait long for the runners to start coming in, as Barrett was first to round the last turn – arms and legs pumping full speed toward the finish line to win in a fabulous time of 19:55. Barrett’s time was just two seconds short of resetting the course record.
Bartholomy followed close behind in second place at 20:16, with Alec Ankrum rounding out the podium with his time of 22:34.
“It’s been a first win in a long time,” Barrett laughed while looking directly at Ranfranz. “Yep, it’s been a long, long, while. I’ve taken second so many times to this guy (Ranfranz).
Barrett spoke in reference to the recent BIIF cross-country season where he typically finished just after Ranfranz. But all joking aside, there was no mistaking the mutual respect and admiration the trio had for one another.
“I ran the last two years so I kind of had to run (to defend my title),” Bartholomy joked. “We both were together on the way up but after the turn, I just kind of died and he pulled away. Well, he just ran faster than I did.”
Natalie Clouse won the women’s title in a great time of 24:58.
In the longer 6.4-mile footrace, visiting runner Kristen Rohde completely blew away the field and in doing so – broke Erica Braswell’s 2009 course record of 40:58 – to take the overall win with her time of 40:39.
Second overall and first for the men went to her husband, Jonathan Marcus, in 42:32. Kona’s Jon Jokiel claimed second in the men’s division in 43:16, while Bree Wee took second for the women with her time of 45:46.
At the end of the morning there were certainly many things to be thankful for.
“I’m thankful for everyone’s good health because without good health you cannot be out here in Kona doing all of this fun stuff,” said Leonard Torricer, who came out to participate in his fifth Wobble Gobble.
While Barrett said he was thankful for his running legs, Bartholomy added; “I’m thankful for a lot of things – my legs, my family, my friends.”
Ranfranz agreed with his friends and said that he is thankful for all the support he gets from the community and at home.
Braswell too, felt grateful to be able to host another successful event.
“We really enjoy doing it and we really appreciate everyone coming out and getting some exercise and having some fun with the family.”