Each year, nearly 2,000 triathletes gather along the Big Island’s Kohala Coast at Waikoloa Beach Resort to participate in the Hawaii’s largest Olympic Distance Triathlon – popularly known as Lavaman.
Each year, nearly 2,000 triathletes gather along the Big Island’s Kohala Coast at Waikoloa Beach Resort to participate in the Hawaii’s largest Olympic Distance Triathlon – popularly known as Lavaman.
While most athletes spent last weekend fine-tuning their swim-bike-run routines to extinguish any pre-race jitters before heading into race week, others opted for a painful reality check against the clock at Saturday’s Papa Pea Cycling Time Trial – named in honor of the beloved, Bill Pagett.
This year, the Hawaii Cycling Club decided to spice things up a bit by featuring two additional races — for a total of three — starting simultaneously at 8 a.m. from three different locations: a 24.5-mile race from Kua Bay, 12.2-mile distance from Waikoloa Drive and a six-mile sprint from Scenic Point Lookout, all finishing together at the Kua Bay entrance.
Queen Kaahumanu Highway, known for its searing heat and unpredictable wind, once again challenged cyclists with adversity throughout the entire route — ensuring plenty of suffering for everyone.
As each rider departed on 30-second intervals to provide a clean, non-drafting race based solely on one’s own physical strength and mental fortitude, the longer 24.5-mile quad buster attracted the most participants along with varying winds of tail, cross — and yes — some stiff headwinds.
Keauhou’s Penn Henderson proved to be in great shape heading into Sunday’s Lavaman Waikoloa as he out-powered the field, winning in a fabulous time of 54 minutes and 33 seconds with an average speed of 27.4 miles per hour.
“Today was tough, especially over the last five miles when the wind began to pickup,” Henderson said. “But overall, I thought it went really well. I knew I needed a hard effort ahead of Lavaman, and as much as it hurt, it was definitely good for me to get out there to practice pacing and test my equipment beforehand.”
The race for second became an exciting duel between Keauhou’s Michael DeCarli and Kealakehe Waverider mMalik Mariano. The duo found themselves exchanging positions throughout the 40K route.
“It went well,” DeCarli said. “We kind of went back and forth during the whole race and it was definitely difficult as Malik is a good hill climber. Then the last third of the race was a head wind, so I just put my head down and pedaled.”
The final hill before the finish line at Kua Bay certainly became the deciding factor between the two as DeCarli continued to make ground on Mariano, securing second place with a great time of 1:00:34. Mariano pushed himself through the pain barrier to keep it close and finished in 1:00:54.
“I just wanted to keep up with Mike,” Mariano said. “He just kept getting farther and farther ahead and I was like, oh my gosh this is horrible. The head winds didn’t affect me as much as I do it everyday as I ride from home.”
Like Henderson, DeCarli and Mariano used the event as a last race prep before heading into this weekend’s main event.
“It definitely gets you up to speed to see what you can do so now it’s time to relax and go for it,” DeCarli said.
“Well I haven’t been training much for running or swimming, just biking, so we’ll see how it goes,” Mariano said.
Also on the start list for this weekend’s Olympic Distance event and the only two women competing in the 24.5-mile cycling race were Jennifer Ward and Dene Sturm. Ward finished ahead in 1:11:55 with Sturm pedaling in at 1:23:25.
Volcano’s Todd Marohnic topped the field in the 12.2-mile event with a stellar time of 30:42. While Mariano’s younger brother, Majdi, took second in 34:33, and Mike McCann followed in third at 35:05.
Donna Jones claimed the women’s title in 40:46, and Diane Mohwinkel followed a few minutes back in 42:14.
Kailua-Kona’s Kym Kiser and Kealakehe’s Thunder Frost were the only two competitors in the six-mile sprint, and braved strong headwinds from start to finish.
Kiser whipped through the short course in a fantastic time of 15:10 for an average speed of 24.5 miles per hour, while Frost worked hard to keep it close, finishing in a great time of 15:44.
While everyone enjoyed an exciting morning of friendly competition, all agreed that gathering at the finish to reminisce and share personal stories of a great competitor affectionately known in the community as Papa Pea was definitely the highlight.
“It’s truly fitting this event was renamed after Papa Pea,” Henderson said. “He rode out here on this course all the time, smiling and waving at everyone along the way. He’ll be missed, but never forgotten.”