Oh, so many choices

It may only be February, but our Big Island multisport mania is already in full swing.

We’ve already had one swim/run biathlon, two triathlons and a bunch of other cycling time trials and running races.

Our list of triathlons includes the Team Mango Monster and Mini Monster races, which covered full- and half-Ironman distances.

This past weekend, our Hawaii Cycling Club kicked off its 2012 calendar with a 10-mile time trial on Saturday morning. Almost three dozen cyclists turned out to loosen up their legs and get an early check on their fitness levels.

When the pedal pounding was done and the times were tabulated, it was extremely clear that Penn Henderson is stronger and faster than ever. Henderson set his tires on fire with a blistering course record time of 20 minutes, 55 seconds.

Mark Schlicting had the second-fastest time of 23:13. The constantly improving Tai Scarbrough followed with the third-best time of 23:26. Doug Leopold hammered out a strong fourth-place time of 23:27. Mike DeCarli at 24:02 and Kris Kiser in 24:09 wrapped up the top six riders.

Rani “The Roadrunner” Tanimoto topped the ladies field with a 10th-overall time of 26:03. Roberta Hickman followed in 26:12. Sylvia Ravaglia rounded out the top three with her 14th-overall time of 26:44.

On Sunday morning, it was another day of work for lungs and legs at the Terrific Turtle Trudge, Dragon Dash and Golden Fox 1-Mile Gallop. Almost 200 runners and walkers showed up to honor a trio of Frozen Pea Production legends, Gene “Turtle” Power, Gary “The Dragon” Grubb and Lenny “The Golden Fox” Katz. In the true wacky fashion of our FPP crew, we kept things amusing and confusing by measuring the courses in inches and splitting up the pods (divisions) by weight rather than age.

Also, in our usual semi-organized chaos, we started the “time machine” about 30 seconds after all three races began, so times on our results sheets are all quite fast. The cool, even drizzly weather was perfect for fast running, and Jason Braswell was in top shape to use it to his advantage.

Braswell, who won last year’s 332,640-inch — or 51/4-mile — Trudge in 29:50, blistered the damp pavement in a new course record time of 28:31. On our results list he’s listed at 28:05, but his official and record time is 28:31. The previous best of 28:39 was set by Canadian triathlete Michael Simpson in 2007.

Last year’s fifth-place finisher, Sal Salmi, knocked his time down from 33:08 to 30:14 for a second-overall finish. Penny Pleban set the women’s inline skate record with a third-overall time of 30:25. 2011 runner-up Joel Jokiel followed in 32:03. Rani “The Roadrunner” Tanimoto, our 2011 women’s winner, repeated as champ with an outstanding time of 32:49.

Chris Prater was our top teenager and runner with the biggest improvement. He moved up from 35:58 and 12th overall in 2011 to 33:25 and sixth place in 2012. Val Sell followed “The Roadrunner” in the women’s race with a solid clocking of 33:52. Melissa Braswell closed out the women’s elite three with her time of 37:30.

In the bike/run biathlon competition, Tanimoto totaled out to the best time of 58:52. Mike DeCarli followed with the men’s best double of 59:13. Doug Leopold at 1:00:26, Jeremy Withrow and Brook Collins wrapped up the officially unofficial double.

Tim Robinson won the 126,720-inch — or two-mile — Dragon Dash in 12:27. Asia Morris topped the ladies in 15:38.

The milers turned in impressive times in the 63,360-inch Golden Fox Gallop. Ziggy Bartholomy topped the list in 5:51. Toby Olney followed at 5:55, and Silas Wiley took third in 7:11.

Nahoni Chaul topped the females with a fourth-overall time of 7:28. Jackie Payne took second in 8:37, and Melody Sulliban completed the speedy front three with her 13th-overall time of 9:24.

Next up on our list of fun things to do is the Team Mango Sprint Triathlon on Sunday morning. For details, call 324-7252 or go to teammangoraces.com.