Editor’s note: While the sports world is shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, West Hawaii Today will look back every Tuesday at memorable sports moments on the Big Island.
In the last few decades, the Lavaman Waikoloa Triathlon has seen athletes from the Big Island, the state of Hawaii and the world cross the finish line to hold the banner high above their heads and go home with a gold medal.
This year’s triathlon will not take place due to the coronavirus, the first time in the race’s 23 years the event has been canceled.
The triathlon has made a name for itself and has been a staple for the running and triathlon community on the west side of the island, and with its cancellation, close to 1,800 athletes will miss out on the .9-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike, and 6.2-mile run.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 was a milestone for the triathlon, as it celebrated its 10th anniversary. In that race, two Big Island athletes, Luis De La Torre and Bree Brown, finished near the top.
That year, the Lavaman Triathlon saw Mililani’s Tim Marr win for the second consecutive time and break a course record, finishing in 1 hour and 53 minutes.
Right behind Marr in second was Simon Whitfield of Victoria, British Columbia, finishing in 1:55:12.
”The bike’s my strength, but he stayed with me so I was a little worried,” Marr told West Hawaii Today. “But in the first mile of the run I felt good and I knew it was my race to win.”
The stars for the Big Island started with De La Torre, who finished third overall, in 1:59:12. De La Torre was coming off a six year break from triathlon racing, and it was his first time competing as an individual as opposed to a part of a relay.
“The amount of mojo I had today was so much more than I had when I took a break in 2000 — it’s really like getting a second birth except better,” De La Torre told West Hawaii Today. “Before I was just totally burnt out.”
The women’s top finisher that year was Lisa Mensink, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Mensink’s time was 2:18:07.
Local triathlete Brown, then Bree Wee, participated in the competition that year and came in fourth among the women and was the top Big Island women finisher. It was just the beginning of a stellar year for the Kailua-Kona triathlete. Later that year, Brown broke her age-group women’s record, 25-29, at the 2007 Ironman World Championships, finishing in 9 hours, 47 minutes, 40 seconds. It was her first time competing in the World Championships.
Brown finished the 2007 Lavaman race just nine months after the birth of her son, Kainoa.
“The swim was horrible,” Brown told West Hawaii Today in 2007 after the race. “The women had to start five minutes back (after the men) so there was a big logjam that put me behind.
Mentally, it was a challenge. I started getting a little behind and I pushed it a little too hard on the bike and I paid for it on the run.”
Despite the challenges she faced that day, Brown still managed to pull ahead over the other local women competitors. The next year, Brown would come in first among the women at the Lavaman Waikoloa Triathlon, completing the course in 2:04:51. The victory was the beginning of a Lavaman streak for Brown — she was the first or second place women’s finisher from that year, 2008, through 2012.
