For the last 25 years, Carl “Gecko” Koomoa has held a reputation for creating some of the most unique cycling and triathlon events in the state.
As the race organizer of Team Mango Races, some of his most memorable includes the old Pedal to Paul’s bike race — a grueling 4.5-mile uphill quad-buster that had riders zig-zag up Hualalai Road to finish at Paul’s Place in Holualoa.
Another is his Journey-2-Lala Land, an epic 17-mile bike climb featuring steep gradients at 22 percent culminating at the top of Kaloko Drive.
And of course, the Captain Cook Challenge — an exclusive South Kona triathlon that starts in beautiful Kealakekua Bay, followed by a ride throughout the mountainous course of Napoopoo Road, only to finish with a steamy run along the Old Government Road.
One might ask, “Where does Koomoa find his passion to organize the Team Mango Race series for a quarter century while continuing to create some of the most challenging racecourses in the state?”
“It’s really for the love of the sport. I can always envision the course before creating it,” Koomoa said. “I grew up as an Alpine ski racer, so when we set courses up on the mountains, that’s where the makeup is, that’s where it gets hard. And that’s still in me. After all these years, that vision of looking at a course and thinking, ‘Man, that would make a really neat course.’”
Koomoa said his love affair with Alpine Downhill ski racing began as a young boy and raced as an amateur until his senior year in high school. From there, his talents over the ski trails on the snow-capped mountains evolved to racing professionally on the B Tour for ten years, from 1974 till 1984.
Once he began his Team Mango Race series on November 14, 1992, every racecourse created has threads to his days in the mountains.
“I always believed that when creating a course it’s to ‘make it a racecourse’ so people can actually wind it up and test themselves,” Koomoa said. “A lot of that logic comes from my background in Alpine skiing. But it’s mainly being able to see the outlay of the racecourse and make it challenging and fun.”
True to Koomoa’s style, Sunday’s Inaugural Summer Sprint Triathlon was no different as it featured some challenging and hilly terrain on the bike course.
The race began with a super short swim of ¼-mile in Kailua Bay, followed by a 16-mile bike that included some of the steeper sections of the Alii Bypass Road, and finished off with a 2.5-mile run on Alii Drive.
Near perfect conditions set the stage for some fast times as Sunday’s event replaced the former Landfill 70.3, a race Koomoa created to assist Big Island athletes who needed to validate their Hawaii Ironman World Championship drawing slot before the October event.
“Since nobody approached me this year to do a 70.3 race, I decided to do something fun and short as I got a really big request from all kinds of people — especially first-timers who want to get into the sport,” he said. “An event like this is where they find the guts to start doing triathlons. If it’s something short, they know they can do it.”
Eric Guldhav of Norway posted the fastest time of the day as he ripped through the ¼-mile swim, 16-mile bike, and 2-mile run for the overall win in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 11 seconds.
A few minutes back was Iowa’s Adam Rave in 1:06:03, followed by Kailua-Kona’s John Howerton in 1:07:53.
In the women’s race for first, Kona’s Barbie Nakamura dominated the field by winning in an impressive time of 1:23:35. Not only did Nakamura win by a margin of ten minutes, but Sunday’s event also marked her first triathlon ever.
Second for the women went to Lori Montgomery in a time of 1:33:42, with another first timer, Denise Boatwright, rounding out the top three with her time of 1:40:18.
“The sprints always attract a very well rounded crowd,” Koomoa said. “You have the folks that want to go fast, the first-timers, and we also had a whole family from Kansas who did it. It’s really an open field.
“But mostly, it’s the volunteers who help to keep the events going. They always step up to the plate without asking. They are wonderful, they just show up, and that is why we have been going strong for so long.”