Strong ocean currents and huge rolling swells that crashed along the Kona coastline did not faze participants who gathered at Kaiakeakua Beach for Peaman’s Thrash &Dash Biathlon on Sunday. The event featured a 1/3-mile swim followed by a 2-mile sprint on Alii Drive.
Kailua-Kona’s David Wild, who recently competed in his first Ironman World Championship, was the first individual to sprint across the finish line in a swift time of 19 minutes and 16 seconds.
Following Wild in the long course competition were four pea-ticipants who impressively, were all within a minute of each other. Dan Gampon finished in second in a time of 21:03, followed by Levi Childers (21:33), Peaman Peaman (21:45) and Jared Barrett (22:05).
The top five women also finished right after one another. Mercedes DeCarli led the way with her winning time of 26:48, with Midge Kerr (27:43), Jada Keen (28:00), Lily Lam (28:05), and a finned Lori Montgomery (28:31) claiming the next four spots.
Leonard Torricer and Hannah White took top honors in the 2-mile dash with their times of 16:42 and 19:31 respectively. Kiana Wiley won the 1/3-mile swim in 7:39.
In the LavaKids PeaWee course of a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run, the top female and male times went to Elisa Childers (12:20) and Kyle Randerson (13:16).
Dylan Gagnon and Makana Lopez were the winning times in the 1-mile sprint with their times of 8:53 and 9:13, while Kiana Wiley teamed up with her dad, Tim, to take the relay division in 26:50.
The next Peaman Biathlon event, Peamania, is scheduled for Nov. 18 and will feature a ¼-mile swim, 2-mile run (clockwise), followed by a ¼-mile swim, 2-mile run (counter clockwise). A shorter LavaKids PeaWee course of a 200-yard swim and 1-mile run is always available. All events are free.