KOHALA COAST — There was more than one reason to celebrate on Saturday at Ironman 70.3 Hawaii.
Some celebrated age-group winning times, while others were ecstatic with new personal bests. Some jumped with joy after finding out they had clinched a spot in one of Ironman’s World Championship events, while others were just happy to race in nearly perfect conditions.
Kailua-Kona’s Jose Graca got the first and grandest celebration, zooming through the course and breaking the banner at the finish line in 4 hours and 29 minutes.
Coming down the finishing chute, Graca was all alone, and took the moment to poke fun at his finish line fall at the Lavaman Olympic Distance triathlon in March that relegated him to second place. Jokingly, he wobbled a few times, but recovered only to wag his finger and say, “Not this time,” before being awarded a maile lei.
“It was an amazing day,” Graca said. “Since Lavaman I had been thinking about doing well in this race and I was glad I was able to have a good time and pull it off.”
However, Graca — who won his 40-44 age group — was the first, but not the fastest.
More than 1,500 athletes took on the 70.3-mile trek known as Honu, which consisted of a 1.2-mile open ocean swim at Hapuna Beach State Park, a 56-mile out-and-back bike on the northern half of the Ironman World Championship course to Hawi, and wrapped up with a 13.1-mile, two-loop run, finishing at the Fairmont Orchid’s Honu Pointe.
The athletes started the day with the swim, taking off in self-seeded, age group waves, splashing into the water every five minutes or so.
Graca started with his 40-44 age group in the first wave at 6:30 a.m. However, the top overall time came from Canada’s Chuck Perreault, who started his race in the 45-49 grouping — the final of the male field and a whopping 28 minutes behind Graca.
Perreault scorched the course in 4:21:46, and he didn’t have long to visualize success. He decided to race Honu just earlier this week, coming to the Big Island on a whim after seeing some open slots.
But it wasn’t that easy. To get his tri bike, Perreault drove from where he was staying in Florida to his hometown of Quebec City — 26 hours in the car. And then he covered nearly 5,000 miles via plane to get to the Big Island.
So what was just 70.3 more miles, right?
“I was a little tired but it worked out,” said Perreault, who was debuting at Honu but has raced in the Ironman World Championship three times. “I’m usually not great in the heat but it went off without a hitch. The volunteers and everyone working the race made it a very enjoyable experience and the course is beautiful.”
Perreault and Graca had very different races. For the majority of the day, Graca was alone at the front, while Perreault had to pass hundreds of people without having a truly accurate gauge on where he stood in the field.
“You don’t want to ruin anyone’s day, but it’s a race,” Perreault said. “You have to pass people and you try to do your best not to be rude.”
Perreault said one of the most difficult parts of the race was the run, which takes place mostly on golf course grass that is soft and hilly. That leads to some slower times than normal, but it didn’t worry Perreault.
“That much grass is unusual for triathlon but something new is fun,” he said. “It’s hard for everybody, and you know, if it’s hurting me, it’s killing them.”
Perreault edged second overall finisher Ritch Viola (04:24:51) — who was also in his age group — by a little over three minutes.
Jorge Fuentes was the clubhouse leader early in the afternoon, clocking a time of 4:25:20. The Mexican triathlete slid down the overall leaderboard a bit once the age groups converged on the finish line, but still managed a third overall podium finish and won his 35-39 age group.
It was Fuentes’ first time racing on the Big Island and he did not come away with even a drip of disappointment.
“Racing here — it’s like the holy grail of triathlon. It has been my dream since I started racing to come here,” Fuentes said. “It was everything I could have asked for and more.”
The even better news for Fuentes is that he earned an opportunity for a return ticket to the Big Island, which he plans to take up.
Along with 30 age group slots to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in South Africa, the race also offered 24 age group slots to the Ironman World Championship in October, and 24 additional slots to the Kona championship for the top state of Hawaii athlete in each division.
Kealakekua’s David Wild finally has his name on one of those Kona spots. He finished at the front of the pack in the male 30-34 division with a time of 4:27:38. Wild also managed to retain the mantle of top Big Island finisher, edging Graca. Wild and Graca finished seventh and ninth overall, respectively.
If all goes as planned, Graca and Wild will duke it out for top Big Islander at the 140.6-mile world championship in October, a title that currently belongs to Graca.
Wild credits his time to racing inspired, being motivated by the memory of one of his best friends, Bobby Tomkiewicz, who recently passed away. He missed the funeral — which was scheduled for the same day as Honu — but sent his regards via a message that was read at the event and dedicated his stellar race to Tomkiewicz.
“It was hard for me to tell my friends I couldn’t make it. He meant a lot to me,” Wild said, who described Tomkiewicz as a Renaissance man. “Bobby always supported me with my racing. I think he would have wanted me to be here today instead of a funeral — even if it was his.”
Before the race, Wild preached the power of patience to his five “Live Wild Coaching” triathletes — appropriate for a race nicknamed after the ever-steady Honu.
“Whenever I give them advice, I’m really giving myself advice too,” Wild said with a laugh.
On the way back from Hawi, Wild started counting the people who were in front of him, which he numbered around 16. Knowing the task he faced, Wild kept patient, taking advantage of his opportunities while putting down one of the fastest runs of the day.
“I knew I had some work to do,” Wild said. “But I just started picking guys off one by one and finished strong.”
New Zealand’s Fiona Crombie cruised to the women’s overall title, clocking a time of 4:52:32 out of her 35-39 age division. Oahu’s Carly Killam was second overall and best in her 30-34 age group with a time of 4:56:19.
Lauren Harrison made sure that the top three women all came from different age groups, stopping the clock at 4:57:14 to round out the podium.
