The “smack talk” has long begun and it turned quite ugly at Saturdays’ Sweetheart Shuffle 10K relay and 5K solo races. ADVERTISING The “smack talk” has long begun and it turned quite ugly at Saturdays’ Sweetheart Shuffle 10K relay and
The “smack talk” has long begun and it turned quite ugly at Saturdays’ Sweetheart Shuffle 10K relay and 5K solo races.
“Eddie doesn’t stand a chance and he knows it,” said Agnes Prehn, Director of Sales for Nutrex Hawaii. “He talks more than he trains – I got this one.”
“It’s heartbreaking knowing that I’m going to beat an old lady but I’m doing it for the kids,” Edgar Ombac fired back. “I did IRONMAN last year and she’s definitely intimidated by that.”
What began as a friendly bet over dinner between Prehn and Ombac of who will beat the other at the upcoming Lavaman Waikoloa Olympic Distance Triathlon has now exploded into a social media craze geared up for a showdown happening on April 10th.
“It started off with Agnes bragging on how well she was going to do and how badly she was going to beat me,” said Ombac, who is more popularly known as Eddie-O. “So we made a friendly bet of a $100 and posted it on social media. We started noticing a lot of interest on social media that gave us the idea that maybe we can turn it into a fun fundraiser, have people place their bets on Agnes or myself, and have it raise funds for a good cause. It spread like wildfire.”
And with it, the bantering began.
While the wager is quite simple, the stakes are at an all time high. To the victor comes bragging rights for the rest of the year and along with that, all monies raised in support of their efforts will benefit the winner’s selected youth group: Gerry Rott’s LavaKids program for Prehn, or the Hilo Sunrise Athletics Club for Ombac.
Both organizations encourage kids to be active and live a healthier lifestyle.
“I love to see things like this come out of Lavaman,” Rott said. “My goal is and has always been, that it always be and feel like a community race. What better way for people to help express this than to use their Lavaman efforts to help raise money and/or awareness for our mutual causes and the Big Island Community.”
Nutrex Hawaii, producers of BioAstin and Spirulina, is the main sponsor of their fundraising challenge via Team BioAstin. BioAstin has also been a contributing sponsor to virtually every athletic event in the state including Lavaman Waikoloa.
And with all fundraising challenges, one must heavily consider the stats before placing a donation.
Prehn, who lives in West Hawaii, has been training full time over the last year to achieve her race goals culminating with an astounding 70-lb weight loss. Everyone knows she is as determined as ever.
“I’ve been working out with Alika Hoomana doing strength and conditioning for almost a year,” Prehn said. “This will be my first Lavaman race and I’m also signed up for Honu. The goal time is whatever it takes to beat Eddie and I am determined to beat him. I think some advantages I have is that I’ve been training hard for about a year and I just really want this and want to win it for LavaKids.”
While Ombac, who resides in Hilo and splits his time working mornings with Native FM radio and afternoons as Nutrex Hawaii’s sales manager, comes with some racing experience through his participation at last year’s Lavaman Waikoloa, IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii, and IRONMAN World Championship races.
However, word has it that Ombac has not been training as hard, spending more of his free time at the beach than on his bike.
Ombac chose to race on behalf of the Sunrise Athletics Club as it holds a special place in his heart.
“I’ve been part of Sunrise Athletics for many years,” Ombac said. “My daughter Skye grew up with the Hilo based club and participated all through intermediate school and high school and eventually went onto to run at the college level. It’s a great club and run by great people, Lance and MJ Tominaga.”
Who does Rott think will win?
“Obviously for LavaKids, I am rooting for Agnes,” Rott said. “But in reality all of the money is going to support youth activities and fitness which is the goal of LavaKids. So whether it is done through Sunrise Athletics or LavaKids, it is a win-win for the community and our youth.”
Donations on behalf of Prehn or Ombac will be accepted until race day at all Big Island Running Company store locations – Alii Drive, Kaloko, and Hilo. On line donations may be made on behalf of Prehn at https://www.crowdrise.com/lavakidsforahealthyhawaiiyouth/fundraiser/lavakids or Ombac at https://www.crowdwise.com/lavamanchallengeeddieo4sunriseathletics1/fundraiser/edgarombac
The winner of Prehn and Ombac’s Lavaman Challenge will be announced at the Lavaman Waikoloa post race beach party and awards ceremony at Anaehoomalu Bay.
Sweetheart Shuffle
While the bantering between Prehn and Ombac’s Lavaman challenge heavily entertained those within earshot, over 50 participants dressed in varying shades of pink and red turned out for Saturday’s Sweetheart Shuffle featuring a 10K relay and 5K solo race.
A fundraiser for the Kealakehe Waverider Triathlon Club, the Valentine themed event began at the corner of Puohulihuli street and Ane Keohokalole Hwy, and had racers run toward Palani Road and back.
In the 5K solo race for first, Gus Folk outran the field to claim victory in a great time of 22 minutes and 14 seconds, leaving Leonard Torricer and Paul Akazawa in a close battle for second. Torricer managed to hold off Akazawa, 22:50 to 22:52 respectively.
Irene Garcia easily claimed top honors in the women’s division with her time of 23:19. In second was Melissa Braswell who pushed her one-year old daughter, Emily, in a stroller and finished in 24:58, with Sarah Blessington rounding out the women’s top three at 27:59.
In the 10K relay division, Cole and I baby jogged our way into first place with our combined time of 40:38. Second place went to team XOXO made up of Kelly Hudik and Kevin Lannen with their time of 48:34. Hudik and Lannen also won the cutest couple and most spirited Valentine outfits of the morning.
Just 25 seconds back and in third place was The Ponderosa Gang made up of Lili and Jeff Thomas finishing in 48:59.
The Prologue 10-Mile Training Time Trial
Meanwhile, at the bottom of Kaiminani Drive, 25 cyclists from across the island turned out for the Hawaii Cycling Club’s season opener, The Prologue 10-mile Training Time Trial.
As one of the more competitive individual training time trials of the year, The Prologue is often used as a measuring stick to gauge one’s early season fitness level and to prepare for the bike portion of April’s Lavaman Waikoloa Olympic Distance Triathlon.
“It’s only 10-miles, it’s not a hard or technical course, and we advertised it as a training time trial for Lavaman,” said race director Tom Solis of the turnout. “What’s neat about this event is that we had more first timers than old timers, with the youngest being 11 years old and the oldest at 72.”
A quick glance at previous Prologue winners included Maxfield LaFortune (2015), Penn Henderson (2012, 2013, 2014), Kym Kiser (2014, 2015) and Sylvia Ravaglia (2013). Not having any of them at the start line meant new winners would be crowned.
In the men’s division, Mickey McDonald out-pedaled the field to win in a time of 24:16 – averaging a speed of 24.73 miles per hour. Trying to keep it close was Volcano’s Todd Marohnic at 24:52, with Kona’s Adam Ankrum in third at 25:37.
Tawnie McDonald topped the women’s division with her swift time of 27:27, while Lori Henbest was second in 28:52, and Greta Friesen rounding out the women’s top three in 35:27.
“It was such a beautiful day, clear with no winds,” Solis said. “Everyone was real happy with the conditions. And I think people appreciate having a talk story station after the race as everyone got their times quickly with no one having to wait around. Everything ran smoothly from start to finish.”
Team Mango Mini Monster & Mini Wee Triathlon
Sunday’s Team Mango triathlon event had a few new changes for those who showed up bright and early to race at the Kailua Pier.
For the first time in six years, Team Mango Races did not host the Monster Triathlon – a full iron distance event of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run.
In its place however, debuted a much shorter and friendlier course, the Mini Wee Monster Triathlon – a distance created by Peaman’s idea to move the decimal point one place to the left from the Monster Triathlon’s distance.
Four competitors braved the short course together of a .24-mile swim, 11.2-mile bike, and 2.6-mile run. Dan Gampon, Peaman, Michael DeCarli and Kris Whiting all finished simultaneously with a time of 1:57:39.
Yet the Mini Monster Triathlon remained as popular as ever with its featured 70.3 distance of a 1.2-mile swim in Kailua Bay, 56-mile bike on Queen Kaahumanu Highway, followed by a steamy 13.1-mile run on Alii Drive.
Kailua-Kona’s Mikey Brown proved that he was in a league of his own as the Hawaii County Firefighter completely blew away the field to win in a superb time of 4 hours, 29 minutes and 45 seconds.
“It was tough but I felt good,” Brown said. “For me it was about focusing on my own pace though it was hard to race alone out there for so long.”
Brown added that he typically doesn’t compete in early season triathlons but felt Sunday’s race was the perfect trial run to help boost his confidence in getting faster for his two main races later in the year – April’s IRONMAN 70.3 Texas, and July’s IRONMAN European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany.
“I want to try to qualify for Kona,” Brown said. “So I’ll need at least a top five at Frankfurt and hopefully finish somewhere between a 9:20 or 9:25. I know it’s going to be tough, but I’m putting in the training and it’s a fast course so hopefully I’ll be able to accomplish what I’m set to do.”
Second to cross the finish line was the previous day’s Prologue Time Trial winner, Mickey McDonald in 5:09:20, with Yves Tolleran in third at 5:22:15.
On the women’s side, Kailua-Kona’s Monica Price took home her first Mini Monster crown with her time of 5:45:00, while Tawnie McDonald took second in 5:54:21, and Shirley Van Dyke in third at 6:01:33.
Winning the relay division was the Ankrum family with 11-year old Aiden completing the swim in 29:39, father Adam finishing the bike in 2:21:43, and mom Laura completing the run segment in 1:57:33, for a combined time of 4:48:55.
“The volunteers out there were amazing,” Brown said. “It was nice to see so many people cheering for me at the finish line. It was such a great event.”
Coming Up
Frozen Pea Productions will host the Terrific Turtle Trudge (332,640 inches), Dragon Dash (126,720 inches), and Golden Fox 1-Mile Gallop (63,360 inches) next to the Kailua Pier. The free running events will begin at 8:08 a.m. No registration needed, just sign-out when finished. For more information contact Peaman at 938-2296.
