He’s 12 and she’s 10 years old. Both attend private school and possess a deep passion for their sports of swimming and running. And over the last year, each have five Pea Wee Biathlon victories to be proud of.
He’s 12 and she’s 10 years old. Both attend private school and possess a deep passion for their sports of swimming and running. And over the last year, each have five Pea Wee Biathlon victories to be proud of.
Best of all, both seem completely unaware of their naturally gifted talents of speed and fortitude.
Yet what keeps Jared “Raka” Barrett and Lilo Fyrileiv motivated to participate in the monthly Peaman Pea Wee Biathlons is not the competition – it’s the post-race prizes.
“I get excited about the prizes that Peaman gives out after the race,” Barrett said. “I don’t really think about who is out there. I think about what good prizes Peaman will have this time.”
Fyrileiv agreed. “It’s fun and everyone gets a lot of prizes after. It’s fun to exercise and all of my friends come.”
Not caring about placing, finish times, competition or course records is a refreshing outlook on how these young athletes roll – seemingly non-concerning for Barrett and Fyrileiv as they take on the 200-yard swim and 1-mile run.
Barrett who attends Hawaii Preparatory Academy middle school will become a 7th grader this fall, and said he began doing Peaman events about a year ago through the encouragement of his mother, Mila, and older brother, Lawrence “Rama.”
“I like swimming and running,” Barrett said. “My mom said it would be good for me to come out and do Peamans. I guess she was right.”
Barrett said that he was surprised when he began winning the short course Peaman events, and looks up to his older brother who is a triathlete, cross-country runner, and track and field standout for Konawaena High School entering his junior year this fall.
“I want to do cross-country and track like Rama someday,” he said. “Right now I can’t choose it as an elective at HPA. I guess I look up to my brother a little bit, but I’m thinking that I could probably beat him one day.”
Like Barrett, Fyrileiv, who attends the new Kuleana Education School located in Pottery Terrace, also found encouragement to participate in Pea Wee events from her parents along with swimming coach, Steve Borowski.
“I’ve been swimming for coach Steve’s Kona Aquatics for two years now,” Fyrileiv said. “The water is always nice at Peamans and the run is fun.”
Other than swimming, Fyrileiv said her passion for sports extends to playing soccer and running in local 5K events such as Mac-A-Thon, Run for Hops and December’s Jingle Bell Beach Run.
“I think I enjoy the running more than swimming,” she said with a smile. “And I think it’s fun when I get to beat the boys.”
What started out as cool, overcast skies hovering over Kailua Bay quickly turned into a sunny, heat-infused sauna for Sunday’s Peaman Red, White and Blue Biathlon.
In the short course Pea Wee event, Fyrileiv whipped through the 200-yard swim to exit Kaiakeakua Beach in first, and to save time, headed out for the steamy 1-mile stretch of pavement on Alii Drive barefoot.
Right behind her was Barrett, who used the same strategy to forego running shoes, and swiftly chased after Fyrileiv. Barrett, known for his quick turnover, promptly took the lead over the 1-mile run course to finish first in a fabulous time of 9 minutes and 47 seconds.
“I guess it feels good to be first,” he said. “Because once it’s over, I can’t wait to get back into the water and have some more fun.”
Next was Lainey Eckart in 11:22, followed closely by Fyrileiv in 11:56.
Kona’s Josiah Randerson claimed top honors in the short 1-mile run course in a time of 7:08, with the father and son duo, Tai and Kaili Scarbrough, taking the relay title in 24:56.
Meanwhile, the big kids swirled up some excitement in Kailua Bay for the long course ½-mile swim and 3.5-mile run. Top relay swimmer Jim McCleery was the first to run up the beach to tag his running teammates, Karlyn Pipes and daughter, Erin Rene.
In the individual race for first, teen speedster Cody Ranfranz raced out of the water with a 15-second lead over a chase pack that included Luis De La Torre and Rama Barrett.
As the sun broke through overcast skies creating hot and humid conditions on Alii Drive, De La Torre made his move to take full control of the lead and went on to claim his third Peaman victory of the year in 35:10.
Keeping it close were Konawaena High School teammates and classmates, Ranfranz and Barrett, in 35:48 and 38:42 respectively.
Kona’s Winona Chen went unchallenged in the women’s division, finishing in a time of 41:47. Ayo Lismark next at 48:55, and Kelli Dorn in third at 49:00.
The Split Peas relay division went to McCleery and Pipes in 40:24, with Keolani Oka topping the ½-mile swim in 14:42, and Simon Ellis having the swiftest time over the 3.5-mile run at 23:01.
With Barrett and Fyrileiv already exceling at such a young age, it just goes to show, Peaman’s Biathlon events have truly become an essential component in developing our youth’s athleticism – guiding them towards bigger victories in sport — and in life.