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Amazing! Four races in two days, 2,096 runners, walkers and wheelers and enough energy put out by the volunteers and organizers to power a major city.

This year's 9th Annual UCC Coffee Kunitake Farms Kona Marathon, 1/2 Marathon and Family Fun Runs definitely had it all. Not only was there a lot of great competition in each and every race, there were also some incredible efforts being put out by the wonderful people of the Island of Hawaii who turned out to make this two day festival of fun, fitness and fund raising possible.

Putting on good quality races has always been important to race
organizers Jim and Nia Lovell but the Kona Marathon is also much, much more. The ever growing number of participants has allowed the Lovells to become a major fund raiser for several national groups such as the American Diabetes Association, the American Stroke Association, the Wellness Community's Stride for Hope, the Cystic Fibrosis and Arthritis Foundations, as well as several local charitable organizations who help put on the event by volunteering and setting up aid stations along the course. With nearly 3/4 of this year's field representing these large organizations and each of them gathering donations and pledges, it's estimated that close to five million dollars was raised.

Besides helping these national and local charities, the race also is a huge benefit to our island's economy. The visiting athletes, their
families, friends, organization leaders and coaches fill up the hotels, restaurants and shops of Kona during their stay and, as with most of our visitors, they go home and spread the word about a wonderful event for a good cause in a very beautiful place.

Having been a volunteer and participant at the event each year I always get to experience the race from both sides. As a participant I get to enjoy a fun and well organized race with just about everyone I meet or talk to also enjoying themselves and have nothing but praise for our island, the event and most importantly the incredible volunteers. From the special guests like Frank Shorter and Eddy Hellebuyck, to the energetic aid station volunteers, all you see and feel is the aloha spirit.

During last weekend's event I saw so many outstanding efforts being put out by volunteers that I could never list them all. We are very fortunate in Kona to have so many good people who are willing to share their energy and aloha, week after week at numerous fun events. As both Jim and Nia will tell anyone it truly is the wonderful volunteers and their aloha spirit that makes the Kona Marathon such a special event.

As for the running and racing it was filled with a lot of excitement, quality runners from 45 states and much determination. On Saturday the races were short and fast with both the 3.1 and 6.2 mile events taking off near 7:00 a.m. The 3.1 miler was fast and furious as 5-time marathon champ Eddy Hellebuyck took off like a rocket. His 5 minute per mile pace was of course supposed to "just loosen him up" for Sunday's 26.2 miler.

Hellebuyck's enthusiasm cost him a little time as he bolted past the turnaround. After realizing his mistake he quickly turned around and began his "easy" sprint back to the finish at the Ohana Keauhou Beach Hotel. Because of his slight miscue, the very fast field led by Chris Juarez of Las Vegas and Evan Garich of Honolulu were able to stay close to the fast moving Hellebuyck.

At the finish Hellebuyck added another victory to his Big Island
undefeated streak as well as another Kunitake run record. His time of 15:52, or 5:07 per mile, easily took down the previous race record of 16:49.

Juarez ran his way to a strong 2nd place at 16:13. Garich followed in 3rd at 16:31. Our top Big Islander was Jason Thorp of Hilo who placed a very impressive 4th overall in 16:52. Paul Bodet of Covington, LA, closed out the top five in 17:40. Last year's champ Aaron Libadisos placed 6th in 17:54.

Oahu running sensation and 2001 graduate from St. Francis High School Anne Kawasaki blazed to a 1st place wahine and 10th overall finish with a great time of 18:33, or 5:59 per mile. The Tauchman Twins of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, were next in 12th and 13th overall. Kara took 2nd for the wahine at 20:25, Emma followed a step or two later in 3rd at 20:27.

Peggy Zeeb of Colon, MI, at 20:58 and Jeannie Wokasch of Honolulu in 21:05 completed a very fast top group. Like Hellebuyck, Wokasch, the Kona Marathon record holder, was running the short event to prep for the next day.

In the 6.2 mile race, Jonathan Lyau of Honolulu blitzed the field with a fast time of 32:07. Lyau, one of our state's best runners, holds the race records for the 6.2 and the 13.1 milers. Kailua-Kona runner Gordon Christie dusted off his flats to take 2nd in 33:37. Dave Steffens of Seattle, Washington, took 3rd at 34:43.

4th went to one of my favorites, Louis Tomsic of Honolulu. Tomsic, who races at least once or twice a week, clocked in at 37:45. Tomsic was, of course, also planning on running the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. John Beitler from Hilo topped our Big Island list with his 5th place time of 39:21.

In a close race for the wahine crown Shelly Hack of Sammamish,
Washington, Mina Casey-Pang of Honolulu and Miriam Jaffee of Bellevue, Washington, placed 7th through 9th overall and topped the wahine list with their times of 39:37, 40:05 and 41:04, respectively. Our top Island of Hawaii wahine was Ellen Cordeiro of Waimea in 6th place at 48:56.

On Sunday morning the action started very early with the marathon beginning at 5:30 and the 1/2 marathon taking off 30 minutes later. Fortunately the weather cooperated and the runners were treated to nice, cool conditions at the start and only a little sun before the cloud cover rolled in and kept things fairly cool.

The leaders in the 1/2 marathon blazed the out and back course on Ali'i Drive so fast they barely had to deal with the sun at all. Christian Friis of Honolulu pulled away from Kailua-Kona's Ralph Sawyer and Chad Green of Davis, California, to take the victory in 1:16:00.

Sawyer clocked in next at 1:18:23. Green followed in 3rd at 1:20:48. Louis Tomsic completed his usual weekend double header with an awesome 4th place time of 1:21:22.

Also completing an impressive double was the legendary Frank Shorter who took 5th in 1:27:07. The 1972 gold and 1976 silver Olympic medalist's time easily earned him a 1st place medal in the 50-59 age group. On Saturday Shorter cruised the 3.1 miler with race sponsor Jon Kunitake and Jeannie Wokasch. Shorter placed 21st in 21:04 while Kunitake and Wokasch were just a step behind in 21:05.

Rani "The Road Runner" Tanimoto of Kealakekua repeated as the wahine champ with a strong 7th place overall time of 1:28:35. Another local wahine, Melanie Aiona of Kailua-Kona, kept it close taking 8th and crossing the line with a solid time of 1:31:07.

Honolulu's Asti Tomsic who took 6th in Saturday's 3.1 miler was still fresh enough to place 3rd at 1:39:36. Edys Gauger of Irvine, California, topped the masters list and placed 4th in 1:42:07.

Shawn Hellebuyck who, like her husband Eddy and son Jordan, is a very strong runner, rounded out the elite five with her time of 1:43:06. On Saturday 6-year-old Jordan blazed the 3.1 mile course and won the 8-and-under division with a time of 24:20 or 7:50 per mile!

The full 26.2 mile marathon has definitely become the weekend's highlight event. Almost 1,200 toed the start line with hopes of winning, reaching personal time goals or, most importantly, making it to the finish line.

Five time defending champ and record holder Eddy Hellebuyck of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, was a solid pre-race favorite and it didn't take too long for him to show why. Hellebuyck's speed makes him look like he's floating over the ground. Even with his victory on Saturday, Hellebuyck looked strong throughout the run as he glided to a sixth Kona Marathon title with a time of 2:40:18.

Doug Witzke of St. Charles, Missouri, kept Eddy in sight for a while and ended up in 2nd in 2:47:34. Our top Big Islander, Jason Thorp of Hilo, clocked in 3rd at 2:56:23. Thorp placed 4th overall in Saturday's 3.1 miler in 16:52 and was also our top Big Island runner in that race.

Adam Hyman of Anda Lusia, PA, pushed Thorp all the way to the finish as he took 4th just 9 seconds later at 2:56:32. Kailua-Kona's Adrian Aponte, who placed 8th in 2001, moved up into the top five with his time of 3:02:13.

Kailua-Kona's Peter Bartsch continued his Kona Marathon finish streak as he crossed the line for his 9th consecutive finish with a time of 4:08:43. Jon Kunitake crossed the line with Bartsch to complete a grueling triple header weekend as a race organizer, 3.1 mile runner and finally as a 26.2 mile marathon finisher.

Topping the WHT finishers list was Brian "King of the Pupule" Perdue. He covered the course in 3:58:56. Way to Go!

The wahine race ended up being a lot closer than the kane with two past champions and running legends from Oahu staying in contact throughout the entire race. Both Jeannie Wokasch and Connie Comiso ran solid races as they furthered their legendary status and took 1st and 2nd place.

Wokasch clocked in at 3:26:38, Comiso followed less than 2 minutes later at 3:28:47. Both Wokasch and Comiso are masters runners in the 40-49 age group.

Karla Lefevre of Los Angeles, California, took the 3rd podium spot in 3:35:55. Fourth went to Susan Albert of Murrysville, PA, at 3:39:14. Wrapping up the strongest top five the Kona Marathon has ever seen was Paula Vander Ford of Honolulu. She tripped the tape at 3:39:18.

Topping our Island of Hawaii list was Erin Rodriguez of Waimea in 14th place at 3:58:59.

The wheelchair race was also a close one with Kona's Randy Caddell battling Hilo's Ron Amundson through out the course. Caddell ended up in 1st with a new race record time of 2:01:18. Amundson hung close in 2nd at 2:03:06. Kaori Shonaka of Japan took the wahine crown and established a record with her time of 2:32:28.

Over the two days of running and fun, 1421 wahine and just 675 kane crossed the the Ohana Keauhou Beach Hotel finish line. Because of the many close connections to the charitable organizations, there were countless touching and courageous stories behind many of the finishers.

One that hit particularly close to home for co-director Nia Lovell, whose family had to deal with the devastating effects of stroke when her mother had one several years back, was the amazing effort put out by 61-year-old Edward Leary of Acton, Massachusettes.

Leary, a P.E. coach who had his left side paralyzed when he suffered a stroke 2 years ago, conquered the 13.1 mile half marathon in 8:35:44. Despite a fall at mile 11 that caused Leary to take 2 hours to complete the last 2 miles, he persevered and made it to that finish line.

With emotional stories like Leary's and so much energy and aloha being shared by the organizers and volunteers it's no wonder that the Kona Marathon and Family Fun Runs has become by far the largest running event on the Big Island!

Our Big Island race schedule looks empty this weekend but over on Oahu Team Boca will keep our multi-sport addicts busy on Sunday with their 4th Annual Jamba Juice Mountain Man Triathlon at Waimea Falls Park.

The following weekend on Sunday July 7th the excitement will be at Hapuna Beach as we celebrate the 24th Annual Hapuna Roughwater Swim. Start time for this free 1 mile event will be 8:00 a.m. Don't forget to sign and bring your waiver to the beach . Also keep in mind that the t-shirts, tanks, long sleeves, hats, tote bags and other items go fast. For a great selection of colors and stuff, go to B&L Bike and Sports. Call 324-PEAS with any questions, comments or great ideas.

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