Return to Peaman's Articles

In the month of June we saw some great running and racing performances all over our island.

Things started off fast and furious at the Hawaii County Emergency Medical Services 911 Family Fun Run & Walk over on the Hilo side. Hilo's Jason Thorp highlighted the 3.1 mile race with his wire-to-wire victory in 17:18. Two more Hilo runners, John Beitler and James Murphy, completed a very strong top three with their times of 18:43 and 18:45.

Rani "The Road Runner" Tanimoto was her usual amazing self as she blazed to a top wahine and a 4th overall finish in 19:05.

Besides being a very competitive race, the EMS Run and 2 Mile Walk brought out a huge field of 279 participants that crossed the finish line.

During the middle of the month it was a few of our multi-sport athletes who shined the brightest. Dusty Roads of Kailua-Kona traveled to Maui for the 2nd Annual Kings Trail Triathlon where he repeated as an age group champion and placed an impressive 19th overall.

Back here in Kona, James Cotter continued his domination with a clear cut victory at the Peaman Dad's Day Stroke and Stride Biathlon. Debra Bumatay from Hilo joined him in the winners circle with a convincing win.

With such great performances throughout the month I knew my decision for the Frozen Pea Productions Sportsperson Of The Month would come down to who would impress me the most at the 9th Annual UCC Coffee Kunitake Farms Kona Marathon, Half Marathon and Family Fun Runs.

The two day running fest was full of awesome performances but after reviewing the results it was totally clear to me that Jason Thorp, a pilot and substitute teacher at Keaau School, was on the top of my list for the honor of Sportsperson Of The Month.

Rani Tanimoto, Melanie Aiona, and John Beitler did make the decision tough with their outstanding June performances. At the Kunitake Run events, Tanimoto repeated as 1/2 marathon champ in 1:28:35. Aiona finished a very strong 2nd to Tanimoto with her time of 1:31:07. Beitler, a U.H. Hilo runner, followed up his 3rd place EMS Run with a 5th place in the Kunitake 6.2 miler at 39:21.

Thorp, however, was just awesome at the Kunitake Kona Marathon events. His double header weekend just couldn't be matched by any other Big Islander. Thorp, a University of Hawaii at Hilo graduate, just recently has burst onto the running scene and has been surprising everyone. Despite not having run in college, Thorp's times and finishes the past few months have been amazing.

At the EMS Run I was very impressed with his winning time of 17:18, which was done while listening to music on his CD player and wearing surf trunks. Once again the surf trunks were on hand for the Kunitake Runs where he ran the 3.1 miler on Saturday and then full 26.2 marathon on Sunday.

In Saturday's 3.1 mile race Thorp blazed to a 4th overall and 1st Big Island finish with a time of 16:52 or 5:26 per mile. Running that fast would wipe out even the best seasoned runner but not Thorp who showed up bright and early the next morning to test both his speed and endurance in his first marathon ever.

I'm not quite sure what he listens to but it must be good because he finished the marathon in 3rd overall and once again tops for our Island runners. Thorp blazed the course in 2:56:23, which breaks down to 6:43 per mile!

Thorp is very humble about his running success and quickly points out that he wouldn't be doing it if it weren't for his friend Diana Kohara who convinced him to give it a try. The future looks bright for Thorp who seems to fly on the ground just as fast as he does in the air.

Our Big Island race schedule may have been empty last weekend but over on Oahu several of our Island athletes got their endorphin fix at Saturday's Surf & Sea North Shore Challenge swim and the Jamba Juice Mountainman Triathlon on Sunday.

At the 2.4 mile swim from Ehukai to Waimea Bay, both Noa Sakamoto and Ashley Swart won their second races of the 2002 North Shore Swim Series. Sakamoto, a 16-year-old Punahou High School junior-to-be, covered the course in 44:56. Swart, a 17-year-old Kaiser High graduate, finished in 8th overall at 50:31.

While Sakamoto was over one minute ahead of Evan Duffin Barnes who clocked in at 46:07, Swart was pushed all the way to the finish by Lindasy Tam who was just 10 seconds back in 50:41.

Topping our Island of Hawaii list was Moose Mullahey of Kailua-Kona. Moose placed 24th overall and 2nd in the 30-34 age group at 54:08.

Sunday's Mountainman Tri brought out almost 200 tough athletes who were prepared to swim a 1/2 mile in Waimea Bay, mountain bike 12.4 miles on the beautiful trails of Waimea Falls Park, them complete the day with 3.72 of running once again on the awesome trails of the park.

Oahu athlete Chad Seymour, who just recently has appeared as a front runner at most multi sport events, took the lead early in the swim and then held off Jimmy Davis who closed the gap during both the bike and run. Seymour touched the tape in 1:25:29 while Davis simply ran out of distance and crossed at 1:25:47. Lou Ortiz took third at 1:27:47.

On the ladies side, Tina Eakin used an opposite scenario as she was several minutes behind the leaders after the short, two lap swim. Once she was on the bike and especially the run, Eakin proceeded to reel in her competition one by one. With the fastest ladies run of the day, Eakin clocked in 1st at 1:40:09.

Tanya Sells kept it close with a 2nd place time of 1:41:06. Jennifer Raams followed in 3rd at 1:44:52.

Adam Busek and Adam Hodgson were our fastest Big Islanders. The Adams duo were together during the swim and bike but on the run Busek pulled ahead to take 18th overall in 1:36:44. Hodgson followed in 19th at 1:37:30.

Tim Marr, another east side athlete, wasn't too far back in 23rd at 1:39:17. Kailua-Kona's Chris Huber took 34th overall and 2nd in the 40-44 age group at 1:43:45. Keawe Liu rounded out our top 5 with a time of 1:52:05.

Our quickest wahine was Alison Lowen who placed 15th in the female competition and 2nd in her 30-34 age group at 2:10:40.

This weekend we will be wrapping up our country's Celebration of Independence with the Firecracker Blast Run/Walk at Lanihau Center and the 24th Annual Hapuna Roughwater Swim.

The Firecracker Blast will get started early on Saturday with both the 3.1 and 6.2 mile events beginning near 7:00 a.m. Call 329-9333 or 325-0287 for more details.

On Sunday morning the fun and free Hapuna 1 mile Swim will take off at 8:00 a.m. Waivers can be signed at the beach before the swim. Following the swim everyone will receive a finishers certificate and will also be welcome to join us for some potluck snacks. Age group awards should begin at about 10:30 a.m. Call 324-PEAS with questions, comments or ideas. HapPea Independence Day!

Return to Peaman's Articles