After ten weeks of training with a group of women with a specific goal of completing a Team Mango Races triathlon event, Laura Yamasaki was ready to give it a go at Sunday’s Post Ironman Sprint Tri.
The 28th edition of the event consisted of a two-lap 1/4-mile swim in Kailua Bay, followed by a 10-mile out and back bike course on Alii Drive, and finished off with a 2-mile run.
And after the arm-thrashing swim, quad-punishing bike and blistering run was done and over with, the Kailua-Kona resident and mother of two athletic girls, Amelia (8) and Nora (6), claimed her first Team Mango Races victory in a fabulous time of 56 minutes and 36 seconds.
“It felt good but I wasn’t expecting that,” said the 35-year-old of her win. “It just felt good to be with my team and try a short distance for a change.”
While Yamasaki is no stranger to the world of swim-bike-run – competing in the Lavaman Waikoloa Olympic Distance triathlon over the last three years -training with a group of women through the Ironman Foundation called Women For Tri was something new.
“So we are a group of women that were training together for 10-weeks to do this Team Mango Race and our coach was Brenda Bettencourt, she is an Ironman (World Championship) finisher,” Yamasaki said. “We did awesome! Everyone finished and everyone had smiles on their faces.”
Sunday’s sunny skies and tranquil waters of Kailua Bay made for perfect racing conditions amongst a competitive field and an exciting race for overall bragging rights.
First out of the two-lap swim course was Kailua-Kona’s Levi Childers in a swift time of 5:39, followed by Peaman (5:47), who led through the first lap before being passed.
While Peaman was the quickest to transition onto his bike in T1 and pedaled out on the 10-mile Alii Drive course in first, his lead would be short lived as Kailua-Kona’s Michael DeCarli quickly blew by after two miles.
DeCarli’s sizzling race best bike split of 27:02 was no match for the rest of the field and easily gave him enough cushion over the 2-mile sprint to take top honors in a stellar time of 48:25. Meanwhile, Childers used his speed and a quick turnover during the last ¾-mile of the run to reclaim second place from Peaman, both taking the next two spots in 50:50 and 51:25 respectively.
In the women’s division, after exiting the water as the 7th female overall, Yamasaki pedaled hard to make up time over bike segment and then used a race best female run split of 14:58 to finally take the lead and win.
“I’m competitive but I wasn’t really trying to win,” Yamasaki said. “It was really to do it with the group of women and just to have a good time. After the turn on the bike, I saw that there was only one girl ahead of me. Then a mile into the run, I caught her.”
Midge Kerr and Lindsay Roth rounded out the podium with their times of 58:03 and 1:01:13 respectively.
Yamasaki said she plans to take a bigger leap in the world of triathlon as she aims to compete in her first Honu race next year, also known as Ironman 70.3 Hawaii. Until then, one can expect to see her competing in more Team Mango Racing events.
“I love it, there’s so much people and it’s kind of like Peaman – everyone just goes and have fun. If you want to use fins you can, you just go the distance at the speed and rate that you are comfortable with. There’s no pressure which is really nice!”
Coming Up
Saturday: The 13th Annual Run for the Dry Forest 10K, 5K trail run/walk &Keiki runs will be held at Puuwaawa. Start time is 7:45 a.m. for the annual event that supports conservation and restoration of Dry Forests in Hawaii. For more information and to register online visit www.pathhawaii.org.
Sunday: Frozen Pea Productions presents Peaman’s Thrash and Dash Biathlon at Kaiakeakua Beach. Start time is 8:08 a.m. for the free 1/3-mile swim and 2-mile run with a shorter LavaKids 200-yard swim and 1-mile run available for everyone. For more information contact Peaman at 938-2296.
Sunday: The 20th Annual George Heneghan Halloween 5K Fun Run &1K Monster Mash will be held at Parker School’s lower campus. Start time is 7:30 a.m. for the 1K Keiki “mash dash” followed by a 5K fun run/walk. For more information on the Halloween themed event contact parkerschoolhawaii.org