Swim, bike, run

Out of breath, but hanging in there, Kaipo Kam, 12, had just one word to describe how it felt to finish the inaugural 100-yard swim, 3.2-mile bike and 1-mile run Keiki Triathlon held Saturday in Kailua-Kona.

“Great,” said the Konawaena Middle School student, who suffers from asthma, after completing the final leg of the event sponsored by the Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation and Hawaii Police Department’s Hawaii Isle Police Activities League. Despite the heat and physical nature of the race, Kam never turned to his inhaler for assistance.

Before the race, Kam said swimming helps with his asthma. According to his mother, Kristen Kam, his doctor advised her son to begin swimming, which he did and the effect its had on his health showed Saturday. Kristen said she hopes the inaugural event will become a community mainstay.

“We should have more opportunities like this for the kids,” she explained. “It shows them the sky is the limit.”

The minitriathlon attracted about 70 children between the ages of 7 and 14 who kicked off the day with a 100-yard swim at the Kona Community Aquatic Center followed by a 3.2-mile bike ride through Old Kona Airport Park and a 1-mile run to Makaeo Walking and Jogging Path. Children ages 7 and 8 raced half the distance.

Medals were awarded to the top three finishers, both boys and girls, in each age category. All keiki who completed the course received commemorative certificates.

The triathlon is a program of HI-PAL, which provides an array of social and athletic activities to Big Island youth between ages 5 and 17, said Joseph Botelho Jr., one of the program’s coordinators. He estimated the program, which began in 1980, reaches “hundreds of kids” annually islandwide.

“We hold a lot of different activities year-round and interact with students in after-school programs,” Botelho said.

The intent is to form a relationship between youth and police, he said.

“We want them to see police are involved in a lot of different things other than arresting people and dealing with crime,” he said. “There’s police that want to interact with youth and help them continue their successes and stay away from the negative side of things.”

He pointed out the success of several athletes, including Kolten Wong, who now plays minor league baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization after three years at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who have taken part in HI-PAL activities.

“We do see the successes,” he said. “And, the lack of fear for these kids to interact with us in public. They are more than willing to come and tell us ‘hi.’”

The program and Keiki Triathlon also promote a healthy and active lifestyle — something Botelho and his HI-PAL partner — Officer Randy Morris, who is based in West Hawaii — intended when they began brainstorming ideas for a new sporting event.

Botelho said the two were remembering old times, specifically Morris who remembered growing up in Kona and running around a lot, when the idea of a triathlon sparked.

“We realized the kids were no longer running from point A to point B,” Botelho said. “So, we wanted to mimic the Ironman triathlon — only with a smaller version.”

The officers subsequently pitched the idea to Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Clayton Honma, whom Botelho said liked the idea, and as a result the department and HI-PAL collaborated on the effort.

Parks and Recreation Director Bob Fitzgerald said the triathlon would hopefully get keiki interested in a variety of sports and activities offered by the county. He hopes the triathlon will grow into a series of races that crowns the island’s best.

“Ironman is a worldwide championship,” he said. “We want to develop an islandwide championship that our own kids can do here.”