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It may have been snowing on Mauna Kea and storming on the Hilo side but here in Kona our Sunday morning was beautiful. The sunny skies and calm blue waters of Kailua Bay gave us perfect conditions for the start of the 2002 Peaman Biathlon Series.

Kicking the series off was the Peaman Sprint Biathlon. The short 1/2 mile swim and 3 mile run attracted a huge crowd of pea-ticipants. Some were really fast, some were slow, but most importantly everyone had some good healthy fun!

The swim start saw the familiar faces of Dietrich Lawrence, Mike
"Chipmunk" McCary and Jim Wee shoot into the lead but to everyone's surprise they were joined by a bunch of very fast visitors and newcomers to the Big Island. Oahu's Peter Hursty, who is one of our state's best multi-sports athletes, is probably the best known but right along with him was fellow Oahu athlete Mike Bennett, University of Hawaii at Hilo cross country runner
Tim Marr, and Ralph Sawyer, Maui's top triathlete who recently moved here to the Big Island.

Even with the major competition Lawrence, a relay swimmer, was able to step up to the plate and finish the swim in first at 12:40. Hursty, the top individual, followed a few strokes later at 12:44. McCary was hot on his heels at 12:46. While Hursty and McCary dashed down Ali'i Drive for the 3 mile run, Wee headed the lead chase group at 13:13. Marr in 13:28, Sawyer at 13:32, and Bennett in 13:45 completed the very talented lead group.

Out on the road Hursty was slowly pulling away from McCary while Marr was blazing up to the leaders. Soon, Marr's strong running had him all the way up to second and still closing on Hursty. With less than a mile to go Marr had pulled even with Hursty but down the final stretch Hursty was able to dig deep and power his way to the line first at 32:01.

Marr followed with a great second place time of 32:20. McCary held off the rest of the fast moving pursuers to take third in 32:43. Sawyer took fourth at 32:50. Course record holder Gary Cooke closed out the top five in 34:27. Two time Peaman Series points champ Cullen Burgess ran strong to take sixth at 34:52. Bennett, who was here for some very long training rides, hung on for 7th at 34:56.

The wahine race saw a much more local field than the kane but, as usual, the run decided the day's champion. Leading the way following the swim was a finned Carole Bradburn at 14:47 and Krista Maier, a young relay swimmer at 14:51. Leading the way for the individuals was Peaman Hall of Famer Jane Dierenfield at 15:35. Next out was Melanie Aiona in 15:51, Carrie Geddes at
16:11 and Sandra Kimball in 16:15.

From there it was all Aiona as she blitzed to the day's fastest wahine run of 21:20 and a total time of 37:11. Laurie Beers, a consistent top five competitor at Pea Events, also ran strong to take second at 40:28. Geddes followed in third at 41:19. Serena Chamberlain's solid swim and run brought her across the line in fourth at 42:13. Mouse Kelley scampered her way into the fifth spot at 43:02.

The Finned Pea title once again went to Kealakekua's favorite "Road Runner" Rani Tanimoto. Her run of 20:54 was a new course record as was her total time of 36:36. The previous bests of 22:07 and 37:37 were both set by Ruth Moon in 1997. If Tanimoto keeps on breaking so many records, maybe we will make her run with her fins on.

Second for the Finned Peas went to the always tough Janet Scott at 38:34. Lee Bowen topped the kane in third overall at 45:25.

The Split Pea Relay race saw Karl "Happy Hubby" Honma blaze his way from fifth following the swim all the way up to first at the finish. Honma teamed up with the Peaster who clocked a time of 15:44. Honma's run of 17:14 was just shy of his 1993 record time of 17:08 but brought him over the line with a solid victory in 32:58.

Eric Winkler and Kris Kiser teamed up for second at 34:42. Dietrich Lawrence and Rod Thompson followed closely in third at 34:55. The corporate team title went to the Hualalai Farms duo of Peaman and Zak Harvey. Harvey, in only his first Pea Event, sprinted his way across the line for a time of 42:22. Bill Yano and Yohann Rivallo topped the finned relays at 42:52.

A few records fell to a couple of canines on Sunday as Kili and Pua both dog paddled and trotted to fast times. Pua, a Pea Event regular, topped the finned K9 crew as she teamed up with Amber Aguirre for a record time of 55:23. Kili soloed the whole event and trotted in with another new record time of 1:00:13.

Always in search of new divisions, the Frozen Pea Bored Directors decided that mother-to-be Lisa Hadway and her bundle of joy "Tweety" should be honored as the Hapai (pregnant) Swim Pea champ with her time of 18:44. Congratulations and best wishes to Lisa and proud daddy Matthias.

When "Tweety" is old enough I'm sure the Pea Wee division will be in his/her future. Sunday's Pea Wee gang swam 200 yards and ran 1 mile. Meilyn Quitiquit led the way following the swim but Morrison Stewart blazed past everyone in the run to take first at 15:29. Stewart's amazing run of 7:16 was by far the day's fastest.

Kiana Scott had the fastest wahine run as she took second overall and first for the young ladies at 15:39. Quitiquit followed in third at 17:04. Tyler Forster was fourth at 17:22. Tasha Leonard in 18:50 completed the wahine top three while Nathaniel Goodale's sixth place time of 19:08 was good enough for third for the young gentlemen.

Following the fitness was the usual potluck snacks and random drawing for a variety of prizes that included one of Amber Aguirre's incredible ceiling octopi. Her wonderful creations are a definite bonus for an event that is totally free.

The day's final award called the Perpetual Pea was passed on for it's 86th time in the history of the 91 Peaman Biathlons. Sunday's recipients were Ernie, Janel and Stephanie Okumura. They were honored for their family participation, generosity and true Pea Spirit. It's families like the Okumura's that truly create the fun, community atmosphere at all Pea Events.

Next up on Peaman's 2002 training schedule will be the Terrific Turtle Trudge and Mighty Mouse Scamper on Sunday, February 10th at 7:30 a.m. For more info on both of these runs call 324-PEAS (7327).

Our usually full event calendar will see a rare empty schedule this weekend but have no fear because Team Mango will get their 2002 series going on Sunday February 3rd. Kicking things off will be the Mango Spring Time Triathlon. A 1/2 mile swim, hilly 15 mile bike ride and hilly 5.7 mile run make up this free training event. Start time is 8:00 a.m. Call the Mangos at 324-7252 for more details. Enjoy this weekend's championship games! Go
Rams!

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