There is a reason why everyone knows Joe Loschiavo as, “Joe Ironman.” ADVERTISING There is a reason why everyone knows Joe Loschiavo as, “Joe Ironman.” While it may not be for completing a record number of IRONMAN triathlons – though
There is a reason why everyone knows Joe Loschiavo as, “Joe Ironman.”
While it may not be for completing a record number of IRONMAN triathlons – though he’ll tell you that he’s done a few — and maybe not for topping the podium at the 140.6 distance, the nickname stems from Loschiavo’s dedicated service to the community over the last three decades as a volunteer, race steward and athlete.
“I’ve volunteered a lot over the years for IRONMAN events and I’ve done a few IRONMAN events in my time, but I claim no credit to being a fast athlete, maybe just a more persistent athlete,” Loschiavo said of his nickname.
The 69-year old Waimea resident, who owns Howzit Computer, a computer consulting and repair company, says that giving back to the community and offering help when and where its most needed is what he’s passionate about.
Some of Loschiavo’s community positions include being the aid station director at the IRONMAN World Championships, race director of PATH (People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawaii) running events, volunteer and traffic control director for the Jingle Bell Beach Run, and assisting athletes during the three-day Hawaii Ultraman World Championships.
Aside from that, Loschiavo offers a considerable amount of time and energy to help educate the community with his expertise on bike/pedestrian/road safety at virtually every local sporting event on the island.
There simply doesn’t seem to be a race that Loschiavo isn’t a big part of from start to finish, and Peaman Biathlon events are no exception.
“Having Joe as a regular is definitely a blessing,” Peaman said. “He epitomizes the spirit of the Peaman race. He just shows up in good spirits – doesn’t care if he’s first or last, fast or slow — he just knows that he’s going to do his best for that day.
“He’s out to celebrate the day and celebrate the people around him. He’s going to cheer for other people, he’s going to volunteer, he’s one of those guys that will step up and help without asking. He always takes the initiative so there are a lot of things I love about Joe. He truly exemplifies the spirit of Peaman races, which is family, friends, fitness and fun.”
Loschiavo estimates that he’s probably participated in more than 200 Peaman events over the last twenty years, typically competing in 12-13 races on the Peaman calendar year. It’s one of the few times that he actually “gets to race” instead of being on the organizational and volunteering side of things, and he loves to compete.
“I’ve known Sean for probably 20 to 25 years now,” Loschiavo said. “He’s a good guy and I’ve always wanted to support him. These are community events and they are free. Being a person who is on a limited budget myself, I totally understand the value of having a community event that really supports the community.
“I like that it’s a free event that anyone can participate in no matter what level of ability, age, and no matter what your purpose is. I think the purpose of these races is to foster the idea that we can get together on one day and have fun and everyone gets along. To be honest, I cannot see not doing a Peaman race.”
Sunday’s Peaman event featured a ½-mile swim in Kailua Bay and 3.9-mile run on Alii Drive. The race was named in honor of Zak Harvey, a remarkable athlete who passed from Down Syndrome.
“As I shared with the crowd before the race, Zak spoke from his heart and he spoke the truth all the time and he spoke with love,” Peaman said. “So when you speak that way you can’t go wrong. Joe is similar to that too. He’s a very honest man and he enjoys the day whatever event it is. He’s the guy that will put in hours and hours of volunteer work and still be smiling at the end.”
As athletes gathered before the 8:08 a.m. mass swim start, some of the island’s fastest swimmers took their position at the front and waited for the countdown.
World Masters record holder, Karlyn Pipes, quickly propelled herself into the lead with last weekend’s Team Mango champion, Josiah Randerson, Silas Wiley, and Sarah Sermons in hot pursuit.
After the arm thrashing and splashing for the ½-mile swim were done and over with, it was no surprise to see Pipes exiting Kaiakeakua Beach in first to clock in with the fastest swim time of 13 minutes and 20 seconds.
In the meantime, the individual mens and womens race began to take shape as Randerson and Sermons both headed out for the 3.9-mile run with a large cushion from the rest of the field.
As the temperature began to rise on Alii Drive, Randerson didn’t seem too bothered by the heat and went on to win his second Peaman Biathlon event of the year with an outstanding time of 40:22.
I was able to chase down Sermons to take second overall in a time of 42:28, with Sermons securing the third spot with her time of 43:20.
Following Randerson in the men’s race were Caleb Barville and Peter Buehlow with their times of 43:39 and 43:57 respectively. Mercedes DeCarli rounded out the women’s top three with her finish of 47:31.
Brothers Archer (swim fins) and Alec Ankrum (run) stole the show in the Split Peas relay division with their combined time of 40:26. Leonard Torricer topped the Run Peas 3.9-mile division with his third win of the year to clock in at 29:23.
In the shorter Pea Wee race of a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run, Randerson’s younger brother, Kyle, easily claimed victory to break the tape at 12:27. Sophia Oka topped the female division in a great time of 13:01.
Stanly-Ray Oka and his granddaughter, Blair, won the Pea Wee Split Peas relay division with their combined time of 16:18. And in a friendly rival for first, Brandon “Wildman” Curry outsprinted Nicholas White to claim his third Pea Wee 1-Mile title of the year, finishing in 7:00 and 7:03 respectively.
Loschiavo, who swam the Pea Wee 200-yard short course then ran the 3.9-mile long course, finished in 52:57.
“I like the fact that you can actually do a swim at a distance of your choice,” he said. “You can use fins or not use fins. You can run the Pea Wee course if you wanted to. I end up swimming the Pea Wee course nowadays because I want to be with the Pea Wees and make sure that everyone is safe in the water. Then I do the long run course. But what I love about Peamans is the fact that it’s different every time – it keeps it alive.”
Loschiavo will be busier than ever over the coming weeks as the calendar is filled to brim with some exciting races.
After being race director at tomorrow’s PATH Run for Hops 10K &5K races, Loschiavo will run in the Hilo Marathon on March 19th, then return to race director duties for the Lavaman Sunset 5K on March 31, and finish off the festive weekend by competing in Lavaman Waikoloa’s Olympic Distance Triathlon slated for April 2nd.
And that just covers Loschiavo’s extra curricular activities for the next month. It’s hard to imagine what his crazy schedule is like during the remaining 11-months out of a year. This is why Loschiavo is certainly no ordinary Joe.
As for the future of Peaman Biathlon events that have been going strong for 30-years, Loschiavo hopes to see it continue for another three decades.
“I would like to see us continue with more community support – like PATH who has stepped up to help Sean with the Peaman races. But I would also like to see more of our community organizations participate in the races to promote a healthy lifestyle and support a community event like this.”
