Any questions, comments or fun ideas can be directed to Peaman at 938-2296. Finally, we decided to take the weekend off and not join in on the huge facility-wide garage sale at Great American Storage. We will pea-ticipate in their next one. But for some good bargains, check out the sale between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday.
Our beautiful Hawaiian weather has helped make the first month of 2012 a good one for outdoor activities.
The Hawaii Island United Way kicked things off with 3.1-mile Resolution Run/Walks in both Kona and Hilo.
Here on the Kona side, Garrett Prinslow led a group of 63 runners and walkers with a terrific time of 17 minutes, 15 seconds
Jason Braswell kept it close with a second place time of 17:34. Jeremy Lack took third in 17:46. Fourth place went to Brad Bryson at 18:53. David Anderson closed out the top five with his time of 19:33.
Donna Anderson topped the ladies field with an outstanding seventh overall time of 20:02. Cathy Lack followed in 11th overall and second for the ladies in 22:49. Jan Kehl was next at 23:09. Melissa Braswell followed in 13th overall at 23:16. Just 2 seconds later, Alice Schenk clocked in at 23:18. Michael Prinslow put a cap on a very solid top 15 with his time of 24:02.
I didn’t get any results from the Hilo side’s race or the Hilo to Volcano Ultramarathon and Relay that took place a few weeks later.
I did, however, see the very good news that one of our island’s fastest keiki runners, Silas Wiley, did very well in the Elks Hoop Shoot children’s free throw shooting contest held at Kekuaokalani Gymnasium on Jan. 7.
Silas was able to sink 16 out of 25 free throws for second place in the boys 10-11 age group. I’m very proud of Silas for his versatility and because the boy who won his age group, Moses Brooks, had the highest score in the state with 19 free throws.
If Brooks’ score is higher than the California winner, he and a parent will get to go to Las Vegas for the national competitions. Silas, on the other hand, can look forward to the 63,360-inch Golden Fox 1-mile Gallop on Feb. 19. He has been racing in our pea events since the time he was in a stroller. Now he clocks times fast enough to compete on the national and even international levels. He usually competes alongside his dad, Tim Wiley, who donates snacks from Costco at every Frozen Pea Productions event.
On Jan. 15, Team Mango got our local cyclists tuned up with the always tough Pedal-2-Paul’s Hill Climb. The five-mile uphill race from Lako Street to Paul’s Place in Holualoa attracted a small group of strong hill climbers. Mark Schlicting hammered up the hill with the day’s fastest time of 18:43. Tai Scarbrough, who had a powerful last couple of miles, stopped the clock at 19:07. Kevin Crane followed in third at 21:31. Brad Bryson also was given third for his equal time of 21:31. Harry “The Hammer” Yoshida rounded out the top five with his time of 22:08. Next up on the Team Mango schedule was this past Sunday’s Springtime Triathlon.
If all goes well with my pea brain, I will share the details of that race in next Friday’s column.
We wrapped up our fun month of January with the Peaman Splish-Splash and Super Bowl Shuffle Biathlon. Last Friday, I had the greatest pleasure of telling the story of how all of our amazing volunteers made the event happen.
Today, I get the honor of praising the super speedy athletes who topped their pods (divisions).
The race for first to finish the 1/2-mile swim and 3.1-mile run went to Mark Pietrofesa. He finished way out front with a time of 32:46. Defending champ and course record holder Chris Lieto used the event to train for an upcoming race in Panama. His second-place time of 35:03 was well off his 2011 record time of 30:40. Next in was the absolutely phenomenal Rani “The Roadrunner” Tanimoto. Her third-overall time of 36:07 easily gave her the ladies title. Bree Wee’s 2007 time of 32:28 still stands as the women’s record. Chris Prater continued his climb up the overall standings with an outstanding time of 38:00. The always consistent Jason Nixon and Mike DeCarli took the next two spots with their times of 38:24 and 38:25. A few seconds later, Sarah Chang crossed the line to take seventh overall and second for the ladies in 38:31. Melanie Muise at 39:10 placed third. Anita Leao took fourth in 39:38. Sharlene Gee wrapped up fifth with an impressive 13th-overall time of 40:42.
Richard Bosselmann topped the finned pod with a time of 51:43. Jenny Payne took the ladies’ finned title with her time of 57:15.
My favorite dentist, Garrett Oka, took down everyone strong enough to run barefoot. He clocked in at a great time of 57:33, but I would be extremely impressed if he could get close to that time with bears on his feet.
I’m hoping to find some Winnie the Pooh bedroom slippers in my size so I can set a “bears on his feet” record at our next event on Feb. 19. In the beanpole pod, stilt man Caleb Westfall took the title in metal monster fashion with a time of 1:15:56.
The individual finned rolling pea titles went to the awesome duo of Penny Pleban and Holualoa Pete.
Penny clocked in at 55:26 with Pete close behind in 55:32.
The always enthusiastic couple also was awarded the prestigious Perpetual Pea for their unwavering love, friendship and support.
Another fun group of rolling peas was the Echo City Knockout womens roller derby team which prepped for its upcoming match by teaming up with its Hello Kitty who swam, so the Knockout ladies could blaze the 3.1-mile course on roller skates. The Knockouts dominated Alii Drive with power and grace, and brought a lot of energy to our festival of fun. Stunning Brutality was the first to finish in the split-pea roller derby pod. If you want to support our local team, show up for its match on March 3 at the Old Kona Airport Park’s skating rink.
The race for the top pea-wee on the 200-yard swim and 1-mile run/walk course went to Rama Barrett. He won a close race with Caleb Westfall Jr. that came down to the final sprint. Rama hit the line in 11:04, with Caleb a stride or two back in 11:07. Raka Barrett followed in third at 11:47. He just edged out Kanaipono Eckart, who crossed the line a nose later in 11:48. The teeny wahine champ, Lainey Eckart, closed out the top five with a finned time of 13:09. Her daddy, Lawrence, followed in 13:11. The rest of the top 10 was made up of Audrey Nixon in 13:45, Ryanne Doherty at 14:05, Paloma Field in 14:06 and Naomi Hever in 14:17.
Any questions, comments or fun ideas can be directed to Peaman at 938-2296. Finally, we decided to take the weekend off and not join in on the huge facility-wide garage sale at Great American Storage. We will pea-ticipate in their next one. But for some good bargains, check out the sale between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday.