Runnin’ with Rani: Run For Hops Celebrates 10 Years

Run For Hops 10K &5K footraces celebrated its 10th year on Saturday as it kicked off a festive weekend of beer tasting, live music, and savory island style cuisine from top chefs.

It also happened to be a record turnout for the community fundraising event – just shy of the 600 mark – as participants filled the street fronting the BMW of Hawaii dealership which served as the start and finish for both races.

Joe Loschiavo, Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii race director, decided to start the longer 10K race (6.2-miles) five minutes ahead of the shorter 5K (3.1-mile) event, to help spread the volume of runners and walkers crossing through the finish line en route to the beer table, and it worked perfectly.

In the 10K race for first, Laupahoehoe’s Alan Ryan saw no competition as he lead wire-to-wire to win in a stellar time of 38 minutes and 16 seconds. Meanwhile, the race for second overall turned out to be a battle until the end among Kailua-Kona’s Nate Grocholski, Jon Jokiel, and Canadian, Andre Martin. They all ended up within nine seconds of one another.

Grocholski was able to hold off a late charge from Martin, sprinting to the finish line in 40:34. Martin kept his pace to nab the third spot at 40:37, with Jokiel settling for 4th overall in a great time of 40:43.

Many commented on the difficulty of this year’s 10K racecourse. After running through a pancake flat first half that looped around Old Airport, the second half featured a few steep hills of the Old Industrial Area’s Luhia and Eho streets.

Somehow I managed to push my 17-month old son in a baby jogger up and over those hills to win my 4th consecutive women’s 10K crown in a time of 41:28.

Hilo’s Jennifer Minaai and Honokaa’s Kendra Ignacio rounded out the women’s top three with their times of 44:19 and 46:25 respectively.

The popular 5K race featured the most participants with two-time winner and defending champion, Cody Ranfranz, ready to give it another go.

While many were already visualizing themselves indulging in the cold, post-race beer that awaited participants at the finish line, Ranfranz — a high school senior — focused his thoughts on his own performance and pace.

“I wanted to hold a good steady pace, but then also have something left in me for the last mile,” Ranfranz said. “There really was no time goal, I just wanted to go out and run.”

Ranfranz added that he typically doesn’t wear a watch during any running events as he doesn’t like to worry about needing to meet a specific time. The 17-year old said he enjoys the freedom of running and relies on experience for pacing.

“If I’m just flat out dying over the first mile then I know I’ve gone out too hard,” he said. “But if I can keep the pace up and breathe steadily then I know I’m good. Having experience helps too. I just like to go out there and run free.”

Ranfranz secured his third consecutive 5K victory in an amazing time of 17:33, and averaged a blistering pace of 5:39 per mile. Yet not too far behind was another rising star who has begun to make his imprint at the local race scene.

Fourteen-year old Alec Ankrum blazed through the finish line to take second in 17:53, and was the only other runner to finish under the 18-minute mark. It will only be a matter of time before the Kealakehe Middle School eighth-grader begins to dominate running events on the island, and in the state.

Canada’s Emmanuelle Martin won the women’s race with her time of 20:43, with Ankrum’s mother, Laura, taking second place just three-seconds back in 20:46.

With just two months remaining before graduating from Konawaena High School, Ranfranz said that he is looking forward to college and recently committed himself to attending Montana State University this fall to run on the men’s cross-country team.

“Part of my decision (to go to MSU) was my major,” he said. “One of the things that really popped out was that I could major in civil engineering and minor in land surveying. None of the other schools had that option. So this would just open up more doors for me to start making money right away when I get out of college.”

Ranfranz added that right now he is on a partial scholarship at MSU. His total scholarship package however, will be dependent upon his finishing times in track season, with his first track meet happening after the race, along with applying for more academic scholarships over the next few months.

But for now, Ranfranz plans to enjoy the rest of his senior year.

“I’m really excited. I’m going from being a Wildcat to a Bobcat.”

Third Annual Dragon Race

It has quickly gained the reputation as one of the most unique and exciting cycling hill climbing races in the state.

Sunday’s third annual Dragon Race didn’t disappoint as fifty of the strongest male and female cyclists gathered at the scenic lookout in Keauhou, ready to tackle nine of Keauhou’s most challenging hills to ultimately earn the prestigious title of Dragon Slayer.

Race organizer Kym Kiser, who is an elite cyclist, triathlete, wife and mother of three girls, has done a fantastic job in continuing to host an event that appeals to cyclists of all fitness levels and ages.

“The concept is about keeping everyone together,” Kiser said. “Typically in a (cycling) race you don’t get to see everyone throughout the event, maybe just at the beginning or at the end of the race. But in this event, you have faster riders riding alongside those who may not consider themselves a fast rider, or who may be more of a recreational cyclist. This event is unique because it keeps everyone together and helps to build that camaraderie among all levels.”

On paper, the race may have seemed very simple as it is based upon a points system and not a timed result. Riders start each of the nine hills together with those who reach the top first gaining the most points. Faster riders then wait and cheer for other cyclists, who are still climbing, before riding neutrally as a group to conquer the next hill.

But in reality, Kiser’s unique format made it one of the more challenging and exhilarating races on the circuit, as having a successful outcome was highly dependent on an individual’s strategy on how to attack each of the nine hills.

“From fifth place back was really fun to watch as it was a toss up all the time,” she said. “While the top five finishers placed similarly for every hill, (cyclists) from sixth to 10th place was mixed up all the time.

“Some people like Kris (Kiser) made the decision for strategy to completely lollygag on a lot of the hills and got zero points, he didn’t even try. And then on the other hills he put it all out there so the strategy for him worked pretty well as he got 7th place. So just to see the strategies made it much more interesting. It was neat to see that there were so many tactics in this race, it wasn’t about who was the strongest.”

Warm, sunny skies and strong trades set the stage for what turned out to be perfect dragon slaying conditions.

Two heats on each of the nine hills separated the men and women’s races. However, it quickly became apparent that the men’s race for first, or the winner of the most dragon slaying points, would become a heated duel between Hilo’s Alan Eriksson and Kona’s David Wild.

“I think one of the highlights of the race was watching Alan and David going neck-and-neck on every climb,” Kiser said. “They were so close every time with the eighth hill being the most exciting to watch. Basically Alan won that hill with a throw of his bike – it was that close!”

Erikson would eventually take the overall men’s title of, Dragon Slayer, with having the most combined total points of 88. Wild secured second place with his total of 83, with a tie at 61 points for third place going to David Matthiessen and Mikey Brown.

“We determined through the count back after the race that David had the edge over Mikey,” she said. “The count back is basically whoever was ahead on the last hill climb, and that was David. But because they both ended up with the same amount of points, they both got third place.”

The women’s race was equally exciting as Bree Wee returned to defend her dragon slaying title but was challenged by last year’s Hawaii Cycling Club’s individual time trial series winner, Tawnie McDonald.

Wee dominated by winning eight of the nine hill climbs and ended up with a total of 89 points. McDonald secured second place with 80 points, with Lauren Vallee in third at 69 points.

It certainly turned out to be another successful Dragon race presented by Kiser Motorcycles and the Hawaii Cycling Club.

As for Kiser possibly being able to compete in her own race someday, Kiser feels that this is one of two races that she enjoys being on the event organizational side of things, with the other being the popular (Tri)ptophan Turkey Day Triathlon.

“Right now because I enjoy watching it so much, I feel that I’d rather want to be a part of it in that way. Not because I don’t want to, but just the fact that I really enjoy being (race director). It’s close to my heart but not on the athlete side. It’s just such a joy to see everyone’s faces — that’s what makes it so special for me.”