For the last three years, Jose Graca has happily called Kona home.
For the last three years, Jose Graca has happily called Kona home.
It was a dream turn to reality when the 41-year old triathlete came to the island in 2013 to train for the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships that consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run.
Graca was immediately captivated by the island’s close-knit community, widespread aloha, and laid-back vibe. The opportunity to swim with playful dolphins in Kailua Bay, ride past ancient lava flows and green pasturelands en route to the quaint town of Hawi, and to run along historic Alii Drive confirmed what he needed to do – move to Kona.
“I lived on Oahu’s North Shore for six months and then I came to Kona in 2013 to train and do IRONMAN,” Graca said. “I just thought, wow, this is amazing. Here is the best place to train – everyday to swim, bike and run.”
Graca, who was born and raised in Brazil, said he got hooked by the triathlon bug 10-years ago and later competed in his first IRONMAN race in his hometown.
“My first IRONMAN was in Brazil, Florianopolis in 2010,” he said. “I really like that distance. But it wasn’t until 2012 that I qualified for Kona and I did it ever since.”
Graca’s results is a mere reflection of his passion toward a sport that requires more than just grit and determination to get to triathlon’s most famous start line.
At his first Kona attempt in 2012, he broke the 10-hour barrier, finishing in an impressive time of 9 hours, 57 minutes and 29 seconds. And ever since then, he has qualified for a spot to compete among the world’s best triathletes – each year bringing down his finishing time until finally reaching a personal best of 9:29:16 just last year.
Now, as a resident of Kailua-Kona, Graca has turned his attention to the local racing scene, recently competing in his first Peaman biathlon event at Sunday’s Zoomin’ Zak Plunge and Plod Biathlon.
Strong south swells that pummeled Kona’s coastline last week still lingered in Kailua Bay and challenged participants to choppy and murky conditions for the ½-mile swim.
Weylin Foo, the youngest of four children in the Foo family dynasty of exceptionally fast swimmers, was first to exit Kaiakeakua Beach in the swim division with a speedy time of 13:39. Right on his heels was Tori Oshiro in 13:40, followed by Aiden Ankrum at 13:58.
Thirteen-year old Silas Wiley led the men’s overall race and began the 3.9-mile run on Alii Drive ahead of women’s leader, Glee Jewell, and a chase pack of Graca, Adam Ankrum, and Paulo Boza.
However, it wasn’t long before Graca took control of the race and kept himself in the lead to claim his first Peaman victory with a time of 41:06. Ankrum held his position in second place at 41:35 and was followed by Brazilian native, Boza, in third at 42:29.
“I had a good time because I see there are many families with their kids, old guys, young guys, a lot of good people,” Graca said. “And I liked the course today but it wasn’t very easy because you needed to push hard the whole way. So I think it was actually a pretty tough course.”
Graca added that he only recently returned to running after suffering a right leg calf injury a few months ago. To steer himself back into shape, Graca said he challenged himself to ride 100 kilometers (62 miles) on his bike everyday in February – no swimming or running – and lost 15 pounds.
“The run was hard for me because I just started my running two weeks ago due my injury,” he said. “So I couldn’t run as fast. But I hope to get back into run shape soon because I will race Lavaman for the first time, then the Century race in April, then IRONMAN Brazil in May.”
On the ladies side in the Peaman Biathlon, I was able to catch and pass women’s leader, Jewell, near the 1.5-mile mark on the run to claim the women’s title in 42:31. Jewell followed in second place at 48:58, with Celeste St. Pierre in third at 51:05.
Tony Frost and Peter Buehlow claimed the Split Pea relay title in 41:27, with Sarah Weir topping the Run Peas 3.9-mile in 22:38.
Kealakehe Waverider triathlete, Josiah Randerson, won the shorter Pea Wee division of 200-yard swim and 1-mile run with a stellar time of 10:12. A distant second was Kris Whiting in 34:04, followed by Pea DeCarli in third at 47:44.
Lainey Eckart separated herself from the field in the women’s race for first, winning in a fabulous time of 13:53. Riley Bergin and Alana Mast followed in second and third place with their time of 15:08 and 15:13 respectively.
The Pea Wee Split Peas relay title went to Brandon Lacuesta and Sheryl Cobb with their combined time of 31:30, with Logan Eckart topping the 200-yard swim division in 7:04, and Alec Ankrum winning the 1-mile run with his speedy time of 6:05.
For Graca, living in Kona is living a triathlete’s dream.
“I love swimming in this beautiful ocean and I love riding to Hawi. And my first ride from Kona to Hilo was amazing. I love living in Kona.”
Kua Bay Training Time Trial
With the Lavaman Waikoloa Olympic Distance Triathlon event just a month away, nearly 30 athletes gathered just south of Waikoloa Beach Drive to test their cycling fitness at Saturday’s Kua Bay Training Time Trial.
The event, hosted by the Hawaii Cycling Club, was held on the first half of Lavaman Waikoloa’s 40K bike course – a 12.2-mile quad buster that began at Waikoloa Beach Drive and finished at Veteran’s Cemetary.
As is the norm for every time trial format, each rider departed on 30-second intervals to ensure a clean, non-drafting race based solely on one’s own physical strength, mental tenacity, and ability to push through one’s own pain barrier.
After all of the pedaling, sweating, and painful quad punishment was done and over with, it was a talented teen cyclist, Malik Mariano, who bested a highly competitive field with an impressive time of 30 minutes flat – averaging a speed of 24.40 miles per hour.
Mariano, a 17-year old senior at Kealakehe High School, began cycling only two years ago and quickly progressed into becoming one of the island’s top riders with strong podium finishes at nearly every event.
Only three seconds back was Volcano’s Todd Marohnic in 30:03, with David Wild and Adam Ankrum claiming third and fourth with their times of 30:20 and 30:32 respectively.
Tawnie McDonald topped the women’s field to claim her second time trial victory of the year with a time of 32:02. While the women’s race for second turned out to be a closer duel between Lori Henbest and Jennifer Ward – both who are registered for the upcoming Olympic Distance event and racing in the same 45-49 age group.
In the end, it was Henbest who had the edge with her time of 34:15 to Ward’s 34:36.
With numerous swim, bike, and run events taking place over the past few weeks and with many more in the coming months to choose from, one thing is for sure; Kona is indeed every athlete’s Dream Town.
Coming up
Saturday
Bike Works presents the 9th Annual Run For the Hops 10K & 5K races at BMW Hawaii on Loloku Street. Start time for both races is 7:30 a.m. and is organized by People Advocacy For Trails Hawaii (PATH) to benefit the PATH Bike Ed Safety program for Hawaii Island fourth graders. For registration details and entry forms visit www.pathhawaii.org.
Sunday
Kiser Motorcycles and the Hawaii Cycling Club team up to present, The Dragon. Start time for the inaugural cycling hill climb event is 7 a.m. with race day check-in beginning at 6:15-6:40 a.m. at the scenic overlook park below Keauhou Shopping Center and next to the intersection of Kam III and Alii Drive. There is no race-day registration. For more information visit www.hawaiicyclingclub@gmail.com.