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I sure have been impressed with President Bush lately. He is doing a great job running the country during a very challenging time. He's also practicing what he preaches by living his life with as much normalcy as possible for a president. His appearance at the Olympic Games was definitely a statement and, although it most likely drove the Secret Service crazy, he had enough guts to sit out in the open with the athletes instead of being closed up in some bullet proof luxury box.

What's very ironic about all of this is that the rest of our country remains on edge and paranoid. I definitely agree that it's better to be safe than sorry but also feel there has to be some limits.

I don't mind the extra precautions at the airports and I can even
understand some of the new restrictions at Aloha Stadium for the Pro Bowl but high security alert at the Kailua-Kona Pier? Come on now. If you step back and think about it, would a terrorist really be interested in our pier or a few hundred tourists being off loaded from a cruise ship?

I bring this point up because of an experience I had last Sunday as several dozen local runners, walkers, their families and a few visitors gathered on and near the entrance to the Pier for a free and healthy fun run. I know everybody has rules to follow and a job to do but being told that we couldn't be on the Pier because a cruise ship was going to unloading passengers was downright hurtful.

There was definitely enough room for everybody and the chances that any of our coolers, boxes of muffins or our one box of race equipment contained a weapon of any sort was certainly unlikely. If the Pier were to be in danger of any sort of attack I would worry more about the cruise ship shuttle boats or the fuel trucks that can easily drive on.

But since common sense tells us that our little Pier is not a key target on anyone's list I wouldn't worry about shuttle boats, fuel trucks or even a bunch of shift looking runners who could be hiding just about anything in their skimpy little shorts. Fortunately, since the Mighty Mouse Scamper and Terrific Turtle Trudge are very casual get togethers it was easy to move our Costco donated muffins and our box of pencils, paper and clipboards off of the high security Pier.

The two unusual running events featured courses measured in inches and weight categories rather than the usual age groups. Once everyone was weighed in, both the 126,720 inch Mighty Mouse Scamper and 332,640 inch Terrific Turtle Trudge took off down Ali'i Drive. If these measurements confuse you keep in mind that 63,360 inches equals one mile.

In the Scamper, Cullen Burgess, the 2001 Trudge champ, quickly shot to the lead while John "Da Horse" Ables, Tim Robinson, Hawaii Preparatory Academy's Matt Concepcion and Jeff McNeil all gave chase. Burgess hit the half way point, or the 63,360 inch mark, with a solid lead but behind him the battle
for the rest of the top five remained very close.

Burgess maintained his lead all the way back to the finish and crossed the line with a new course record time of 11:03. The previous best of 11:35 was set by H.P.A. runner Zack Chancer in 2000.

The race for second overall turned out to be a great duel between Robinson and Concepcion. Robinson ended up having just enough left to edge out Concepcion 12:05 to 12:07. Robinson's fast time earned him a new 176-200 lbs. weight division record. "Da Horse" powered in for a fourth place finish and a time of 12:14. A stride or two back was McNeil in 12:17.

On the ladies side, one of our state's best runners, Jeannie Wokasch of Oahu, duplicated Burgess'victory by running away from everyone at the start and blazing across the line with a new record time of 12:35. Wokasch's time easily knocked off the old record of 14:41 set by Lokelani McMichael in 1999. Her time also gave her the record in the wahine 101-125 lbs. category.

Second went to Serena Chamberlain who actually ran the loop course backwards but still clocked in with a strong time of 14:26. Last year's champ and Scamper namesake, Mouse Kelley, took third at 15:14.

Tammy Kelly followed in fourth at 15:24. She completely crushed her 2001 time of 18:35. Sharon Daletas wrapped up the ladies top five with a new 126-150 lbs. record time of 15:58.

Two other wahine records set were recorded by Pua in the 75-and-under K9 division and Shasta Owens in the non-K9 75-and-under category. Pua trotted in at 20:21 while Owens scampered across the finish in 23:05.

In the longer Terrific Turtle Trudge, Brent "Rooo" Ruegamer and Hall of Fame runner Karl "Happy Hubby" Honma separated themselves from the pack early and continued to pull away all the way to the turnaround.

Trudge grand marshal, Gene "Turtle" Power was at the turn point to cheer on the leaders as they went through his much needed aid station. Rooo reached the famous Turtle first with the always tenacious Honma close behind.

The return trip saw Rooo hold on to his wire-to-wire lead but Honma never let up and was always within striking distance. Both runners eclipsed Harold Frobisher's old record of 29:09. Rooo hit the tape at 28:56 with Honma close behind in 29:06. Rooo's time also gave him the 101-125 lbs. record while Honma's earned him the 126-150 lbs. best. Kalani Scott hammered his way to a third place finish at 31:40.

Next in was Rani "The Road Runner" Tanimoto who destroyed the previous wahine course record of 37:59 with her time of 32:30. The Road Runner's time also gave her the 101-125 lbs. category record. The previous best of 39:06 was set by Beth Brewster in 1999. Closing out the top five overall was Adrian Aponte at 32:38.

Following Tanimoto on the wahine list was previous course record holder and 1999 champ Janet Scott at 37:24. Her time knocked off her own 236-150 lbs. mark of 37:59. Third went to Leanne Pletcher at 38:28. The next four ladies all finished close together with Taunya Rediger-Hicks in at 41:15, last year's champ Lolly Rodgers next at 41:30, Nancy Concepcion in 41:36 and Edda Stickle a visitor from the Tamalpa Runners of California in at 41:38.

Rounding out the list of notable times was the new record set in the baby stroller division by Susan Nixon and her daughter Audrey. They covered the course in 49:02 to easily knock off their own best of 1:00:45 set in 2001.

The fun morning of fitness ended with prizes being handed out to weight category winners. As usual, the Frozen Peas did things very politically incorrect by giving candy bars and chocolate chip cookies to the lower weights and everyone's favorite low calorie treats (rice cakes) to the heavy weights. I was definitely more concerned about giving rice cakes to a 200+ pounder than I was about any sort of attack on the Kailua Kona Pier.

More good news about our Big Island wahine who are now running for the University of Hawaii track team. At the University of Washington Invitational last Saturday, former H.P.A.and Ka'u star Casey McGuire-Turcotte put together two very strong races on the boards of the Dempsey Indoor Track. In the mile, McGuire-Turcotte placed fourth with a great time of 4:59.99. Also in that race was former Waiakea Warrior standout Diane Kohara who clocked in at 5:37.43 for a 25th place finish.

In a 3,000 meter race, McGuire-Turcotte added a 9th place finish and a time of 10:04.44 to her impressive day of racing. Her teammate Cheryl Smith placed 2nd in that race with a time of 9:46.30.

This weekend is quiet here on the Big Island but over on Oahu several of our best Big Island Cycling Club riders will race in the Castle to Hanauma Time Trial on Sunday. On Monday hundreds of our runners and walkers will take to the streets of Oahu for the 18th Annual Great Aloha Run. The G.A.R. usually attracts over 20,000 participants who will celebrate President's Day
by running the 8.15 miles from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium.

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