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The
2003 Sea-Stars
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| July 20, 2003 on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Finishers Elapsed Time 1. Tim Marr 2:59 17 2. Ricky Armstrong 3:07:08 3.Grant Miller 3:26:00 4. Tony Locey 3:27:24 5. Steve Lundblad 3:30:28 6.Bjorn Marsen 3:39:25 7. Mike Gillete ( mountain Bike ) 3:40:04 8. Lisa Nelson ( First Women ) 4:06:48 9. Jason Andrus 4:16:38 10. Janet Higa-Miller 4:17:31 11. Wendy Gaetner 4:17:33 12. Kwika Singson 4:31:12 13. Adam Busek 4:57:20 14. Bob (unknow last name) 5:11:51 The race started in Hilo under a full rainbow. The conditions at the start were broken clouds. The lead pack formed with about half the field including Lisa Nelson. As they got outside of Hilo and into the rain forest it rained of course, but lightly. As the lead group hit the steeper parts of the climb in the first 3000' of the race Ricky Armstrong broke away from the pack of riders that included Marr, Miller, Locey, Lunblan and Marsen. Lisa Nelson had flatted and was back on her bike but behind. At about the 4000' elevation the sun came back out and as they rose up the mountain they could see the summit of all three mountains on the Big Island. Tim Marr decided to go after Armstrong and within a few miles made up the 2 minutes he was behind. They rode the rest of the way till about the 7000' elevation where Marr showed his strength as the youngest in the race and left Armstrong gasping for any air he could take into his lungs that were about to explode. He went the rest of the way to the 9160' elevation on a climb that in the Tour De France would be an HC climb. (HC basic meaning - climbs are rated category 4 to Category 1, Category 1 being the hardest. HC is so hard that they don't even give it a number.) His time was 2:29:17 Armstrong came in over 4:00 back followed by Miller over 26 minutes behind. Lisa Nelson bested the other two women in the race after fixing a flat with a time of 4:06:48. Lisa had pushed a huge gear that would have made Jan Ullrich ( 1997 Tour De France winner) proud. Mike Gillete would be the first Mountain Biker to finish this extreme course. Of the 14 that started 14 finished. They were already looking forward to the ultimate challenge -- The Summit of Mauna Kea. The Highest elevation Climb in the world!!! Mahalo to Kona Brewing Co. and Hawaii Cycling Club for making this a successful and amazing event. (Click each picture for a high resolution versions.) |
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| Photo credit: Gary Shields |
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