Luis De La Torre is a Kailua-Kona repairman, and he worked on a job in East Hawaii the night before winning the 2nd annual Hilo Triathlon on Sunday. He was on the job until 10 p.m. Saturday and woke up early on race day Sunday morning.
In fact, De La Torre couldn’t celebrate long after posting a time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 39 seconds in the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40k bike and 10k run event at James Kealoha Beach Park. He still had more work to do before heading home.
It was all in a day’s work for De La Torres, 47, who started competing at 16-year-old and figures he’s done close to 500 events.
That experience and a good pair of strong legs helped him prevail over runner-up David Wild, who was faster in the water and run, but not the bike.
De La Torre clipped Wild, 28, on his hot wheels, 1:01:40 to 1:03:45, charging by on mile five in the middle portion of the event.
“I love being fit and I love it as my lifestyle,” De La Torre said. “But being fit takes a lot of time, commitment and discipline.”
Winona Chen, 24, a Kailua-Kona accountant, was eighth and took the women’s title in 2:31:08, claiming her first Olympic-sized triathlon.
Defending men’s champion Chris Gregory was fifth in 2:23:16, while defending women’s champ Rani Henderson is pregnant and didn’t compete.
De La Torre holds a proud last name. It goes back three generations from Mexico City to Arizona and now Kailua-Kona, honoring his maternal grandmother.
There were 200 participants, and 157 finishers last year under rough ocean conditions. The water was calm, but not so three days ago when race director Joe Wedemann considered turning the event into a biathlon because of high surf.
Wedemann and his brother and finish-line director Bob Wedeman (due to a technicality their last names are different) are shooting for a goal of 500 competitors.
De La Torre thinks the Hilo Triathlon is a hidden gem, pointing out that there’s a large group of Oahu triathletes who are unaware of the beauty and safety of the Wedemann-Wedeman co-production.
“The water today was pure joy, and the course is beautiful,” De La Torre said. “The course is a lot safer than anything on Oahu. I’m hoping it will be an inspiration for a giant pool of triathletes on Oahu to come over.”
More than talking about his long history of accomplishments, De La Torre wanted to give a shout-out to the thankless job of Joe Wedemann and Bob Wedeman and their army of volunteers.
“I’m really grateful for Joe and all his volunteers who set things up,” De La Torre said. “It was fun and I enjoyed it. It was like having a catered training day.”
Chen’s bowl
Last year, Chen was third and all her medals go into a bowl at home. But most likely her Hilo Triathlon champion medal will be on top of the pile.
She got the racing bug in 2012, and has competed in 15 triathlons. Chen also did the Honolulu Marathon twice and the IRONMAN last year in her backyard.
Chen used to teach an indoor cycling class, and long wondered what if the bike wasn’t bolted on a stand.
“The triathlon is a challenging sport, and I’m growing in it, and it never gets easier,” she said. “But it’s fun.”
Like De La Torre, Chen was touched most by Joe and Bob’s army of aloha volunteers.
“I’m so thankful. There were so many great volunteers out there,” she said. “They were awesome and cheerful. It was just amazing that they were giving energy to everybody.”
