KAILUA-KONA — You might not call it a clean finish, but for the hundreds of eager competitors who ducked, dashed, climbed and crawled their way over, around and through the obstacles at the Monster Dash 5k obstacle course, coming across the finish line was well worth the dirt.
“It’s good, clean family fun in the dirtiest way possible,” said Megan Noonan, who came away with a first place medal in the women’s division from her first ever race.
The event, which brought out about 300 runners, benefited Kuleana Education. After the success of last year’s Monster Dash, said board president Dana Kern, they decided to bring it back for a second year.
“It was incredibly fun,” she said of last year’s event. “It was the first time we’d ever done anything like this. Everyone came through smiling and happy and said they had a blast.”
The 5k challenged participants to overcome more than a dozen obstacles throughout Old Kona Airport Park, including a mud crawl, tires, hurdles and monkey bars. At the end of it all, competitors crossed the finish line — some exhausted, others ready to take on the weekend, but nearly all of them wearing a healthy layer of mud.
“I loved it,” Noonan said of her first race. “I never thought I would do a race ever.”
And the only reason she took on the race, she said, was her friend Brent Schwab of Wyoming, for whom the Monster Dash marked his 32nd 5k in 32 states.
“It was good,” Noonan reflected, “maybe next is Ironman — just kidding.”
The physical education teacher at Makua Lani, Noonan said she now wants to set up an obstacle course for her own class.
“Because if I enjoyed doing that, I know the keiki are going to enjoy it,” she said.
Between the money raised for Kuleana Education and the opportunity it offered families to get active with their kids, she said, the Monster Dash looks to have been a big success.
“The fact that all these kids came down here at 7 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday is really positive,” she said.
Parents who came with their kids echoed that point and spoke to the importance of events like this for the community.
Courtney Sweeney brought her three children as part of the Kona Moms group, which brought about two dozen total moms and kids to the event.
“You get dirty, you get your heart rate going,” she said. “There’s lots of local people in the community out here today wanting to share this experience and that makes it all that much more fun.”
And in addition to the fitness and fun that comes with the event, she said, it also promotes “community health.”
“It’s important that we all come together, stand together, be together,” she said, “and share a common thread of connection.”