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If you've followed running on the Big Island during the past few decades I'm sure you already know that Karl Honma of Kamuela is simply an amazing athlete. His consistency since the late 70's is unmatched and his ability to push through anything on the roads or in life is just incredible.

Just last month Honma ran his way to his 6th victory in the 8th Annual Craig Leepfrog Kona Beachman 10 Mile Mosey. He ran alone for almost the entire race but was still able to push every step of the way and finish at 58:22 on a very hot and humid day.

I could easily fill several columns with Honma's outstanding achievements on the tracks, trails and roads of our state, but what made him my selection as Frozen Pea Productions Sports Person Of The Month for April had more to do with Honma's giving side. Many of us know him as a Hall of Fame athlete
but we mustn't forget that Honma is also a teacher, talented coach, contributing community member and, most importantly, a family man, It's this balance that in my mind makes Honma a great choice for my April honor.

His teaching and coaching at Hawaii Preparatory Academy has always been outstanding and has brought the school five state cross country championships and much notoriety despite the school's small size. Several of his runners have gone on to be very successful in college as athletes, students and good people. Just recently he was recognized on the Honorable Mention List by the Hawaii Sports Journal as one of the All Hawaii All Time Coaches. The list included the 10 All Time Best, plus 40 others as Honorable Mentions.

Earlier this month he once again organized his annual blood drive up in Waimea which netted 93 much needed pints for our Hawaii hospitals. He has been doing this for many years now and does it because it's a good thing to do.

Over the many years that I've known Honma I have always been impressed by his humble attitude and tremendous relationship with his parents To this day he remains very close to his mother and has also become a great husband to his wife Elsa. His father passed way three years ago but his memory still gives Honma strength. A quote following Sunday's Big Island International
Marathon best sums up why Honma is not only the Sports person Of The Month for April but also on my list of Best People Of The Century: "Only three things helped me get to the finish line in the last few miles: The memory of my father who died three years ago, the strength of my mother, and the love of my wife."

Kicking off last weekend's running and racing schedule was the Hawaii Hotel Association's 24th Annual Visitor Industry Charity Run and Walk. The events are held statewide and attracted more than 11,000 participants who helped raise $7,830,340. These proceeds are spread out to a wide variety of local charities.

Our Kona event took place at the Elderly Airstrip where the runners raced over a creative 3.1 mile course while the walkers enjoyed a 3.4 mile stroll full of food and festivities. The run turned out to be a close race with Danny Guerpo pushing the pace for the first half mile. At this point Guerpo was overhauled by a strong front pack that included Robert Sheetz of Kohala High School, Kalani Scott, Adrian Aponte and Jerry Bess.

The mostly grass course was very challenging and soon Sheetz, the reigning Big Island high school cross country champ, and veteran runner Scott began to edge away from Aponte and Bess. Sheetz and Scott stayed close all the way to the home stretch where the Daddy Long Legs of Sheetz turned in one final kick that gave him the victory in 17:56. Scott followed in 18:07. Aponte outraced Bess for third 18:24 to
18:31. Junior Alonco closed out the elite five in 18:59.

The wahine race was also fun with Rani "The Road Runner" Tanimoto and Melanie Aiona both blazing the course with the men's top 15. Tanimoto recorded another victory with a time of 19:55 which placed her 10th overall. Aiona, who is running extremely well, placed a strong 2nd at 20:33 in 13th overall. Heather Harlan took 3rd at 21:40. Kerstin Busse at 22:11 and
Janet Scott at 22:13 completed a solid ladies top five.

In the new high school team competition Kohala took top honors while Mauna Kea took the top spot in the hotel and resort team competition. As for the walkers, most returned from their mosey well fed and smiling. Good fun, good food and many dollars raised for our local charities definitely made for a nice Saturday morning.

The next day the activity moved to the Hilo side for the 5th Annual Big Island International Marathon, 10.8 and 3.1 mile races. An early morning start helped the marathoners in the initial miles but as the day warmed up the heat and humidity proved to be a challenge for everyone.

Even Karl Honma began to feel the effects as the miles wore on.
Fortunately, Honma's legendary tenacity carried him through the final few miles as Craig Knohl of Honolulu closed in on him. Honma took the victory with a time of 2:57:01. Knohl followed at 2:57:50. Three time champ and course record holder Michael Georgi of Honolulu took 3rd at 3:08:04.

Japan's Naoko Furusawa topped the ladies field. In only her third marathon, Furusawa was able to clock in at 4:09:16 and place 16th overall. Donna Wong Yuen of Hilo was our fastest Big Island wahine with her 2nd place time of 4:36:39. Julie Crawford of Waianae wrapped up 3rd in 4:39:02. A total of 45 runners completed the beautiful but challenging 26.2 mile
course.

The 10.8 mile race was also very beautiful with much of it being run on country lanes away from the noise and danger of the busy highways. Pearl City's Owen Kano was the day's fastest with a time of 1:04:28. Our local runners Jesse Ebersole and Alistair In finished close together for 2nd and 3rd at 1:06:07 and 1:06:36.

U.H. Hilo runner Colleen Cassidy was the quickest on the ladies side with her time of 1:08:57. Masters champ Angie Miyashiro placed an impressive 2nd wahine and 7th overall at 1:11:13. Kealakekua's fastest Road Runner, Rani Tanimoto, completed a very talented top 3 with her time of 1:18:18.

Finally in the 3.1 miler Hilo's Jason Thorp blitzed the field with a time of 18:53. U.H. Hilo Vulcan runner Ikaika Ho took 2nd at 19:49. Vulcan coach Jaime Guerpo followed in 3rd at 21:27. Nancy Christenson, a visitor from Las Vegas, took the ladies crown with her 7th overall time of 25:11. Veronica Wedemann of Keaau was a close 2nd at 25:40. Kona's Pammer Kidani took 3rd at 26:29.

This year's race was organized by first time director Sharron Joseph who did a fantastic job. Both the quality of the event and beauty of the courses receive rave reviews from many of the participants. Way to go Sharron and her number one volunteer Wayne "Big Dog" Joseph.

Across the Big Pond over in Houston three of our former Big Island high school star athletes just finished competing in the Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships. In only their second year of competition the U.H. Rainbow Wahine tallied 49 points at the meet held at the Rice University Stadium.

U.H. senior Casey McGuire-Turcotte (Ka'u & H.P.A.) was one of the team's stand outs as she brought home a silver medal in the 1,500 with a time of 4:30.67. She also earned more valuable team points by placing 4th in the 800 in 2:11.22.

Diane Kohara (Waiakea) wrapped up her career as a Rainbow by placing 11th in the 1,500 at 5:01.79 and 15th in the 800 at 2:21.04. Just a freshman, Kira Lee (H.P.A.) competed in the grueling heptathlon where she scored 3,118 points. Way to go Bows!

I hope to see everyone at this Sunday's 20th Annual Keauhou-Kona Triathlon. The 1/2 Ironman distance race starts at 6:30 a.m. at the Kailua-Kona Pier. Good luck to all of our Big Island Ironman hopefuls!

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