Harvey Nakasone « Wayne Joseph’s Blog

Hilo’s Three Amigos, Nakasone, Blinn and Pavao, are Maniacs

: Nakasone, Blinn & Pavao

In preparing to write this story the first thought that came to mind was the great 1986 comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short called “The Three Amigos.”

Right here in Hilo we have our own sort of Three Amigos and their friendship comes through with their love for running, more importantly marathon running.

DJ Blinn, Harvey Nakasone and Steve Pavao are characters in their own right, in the world of endurance running.

The trio have built a relationship through spending hours on the road and becoming what they proudly call themselves, “Maniacs,” “Marathon Maniacs” to be precise.

“We’ve been running together for over five years,” Pavao said. “Harvey was the first Maniac on this island and he recruited us to become Maniacs.”

To be a Marathon Maniac is no simple task and for these Three Amigos that accomplishment came as a result of running two marathons (distances of 26.2 miles) within 15 days of each other.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with running or walking a marathon, try doing 44 laps around Liliuokalani Gardens in less than 7 hours and that will give you an idea.

“I became a Maniac in September 2007,” Nakasone said. “I believe I was the first one to become a Maniac from this island and now we have quite a few.”

These Maniacal Amigos will reinstate their credentials on October 30 and November 6 when they run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. and the following weekend with the New York City Marathon.

“Harvey was the one that came up with the idea,” Pavao said. “He has run the Marine Corps Marathon once before and thought it would be great for all of us to do it along with the NYC Marathon the following Sunday.”

Both Blinn and Nakasone are former United States Marines and running in D.C. will be something special for them, according to Blinn.

“I’m a Vietnam Veteran and I have never been to D.C. to see the Vietnam Wall,” Blinn said. “I want to pay tribute to my fallen comrades.”

Blinn served in Vietnam in 1967 and just thinking about visiting the Wall brought tears to his eyes.

“I know this will be an emotional experience and an opportunity of a lifetime,” Blinn said,

The trio have never done the NYC Marathon and they decided on that race precisely for the reason that it was the following weekend from the Marine Corp race.

“I’ve done the Marine Corps Marathon before and knew DJ would be interested in doing it since he is a former Marine,” Nakasone said. “I plan on taking him to see the Vietnam Wall and I’m sure it will be an emotional experience for us all.”

In preparation for marathons the Hilo Maniacal Amigos will run together every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

“We enjoy the post run camaraderie,” Pavao said. “We often travel together and bunk together to keep cost down.”

Last month the amigos ran on Kauai and they shared a room to keep expenses down, but more importantly to enjoy the bond they share together as runners.

“I have run about 25 marathons with them over the years,” Pavao said. “And now we have started to run half marathons as well.”

Nakasone has complete 28 marathons and Blinn, the senior member of the group at age 62, has finished an incredible 104 marathons to date.

“I run for health reasons,” Nakasone said. “I have Type II Diabetes and my mother and grandmother both died from diabetes.”

While running has kept Nakasone’s diabetes in check he also reaped the reward of losing 30 pounds from his dedication to the sport.

A new Marathon Maniac sister organization has been created called the Half Marathon Fanatics and Blinn, Pavao and Nakasone became the first from the Big Island to qualify as Half Fanatics when he completing two half marathons within the two week requirement.

“The half marathon has become the most popular running distance in America and I’m trying to get people from Hawaii to qualify in becoming a Half Fanatic,” Nakasone said. “We now have five Half Fanatics from the Big Island and I’m sure we can get lots more by the end of this year.”

The qualifications for membership are the same, only the runners qualify by running half marathons (13.1 miles) instead of marathon, according to Pavao.

The Three Maniac Amigos will leave on their journey on Oct. 27 and have a couple of days in D.C. to acclimate before sharing in the Marine Corp Marathon together.

“We’ll take an Amtrak train to NYC from D.C. on Nov 2^nd,” Pavao said. “That will give us a few days in the Big Apple before the Big race.”

Pavao has his sights on breaking four hours for both marathons and will use the D.C. marathon as a training run for NYC.

“I am actually hoping I can run a faster time in NYC,” he said.

Whatever the Hilo Maniac Amigos do on the East Coast, one thing is for certain, they’ll be having fun doing it!

And someday should you happen to see a healthy, happy senior jogging laps up and down Shower Drive in Paradise Park remember to smile, say “woof” and never shy away from “Running with the Big Dog.”

Email the Big Dog at waiakeabigdog@aol.com.

October 17, 2011 Posted by waynejoseph | Running on the Big Island | Chevy Chase, DJ Blinn, Half Marathon Fanatics, Harvey Nakasone, Liliuokalani Gardens, Marathon Maniacs, Marine Corps Marathon, Martin Short, New York City Marathon, Running with the Big Dog, Steve Martin, Steve Pavao, Three Amigos, Vietnam Wall | 3 Comments

Big Dog’s Veteran’s Day 5K results 51 to 99

Nine members of the US Coast Guard - Cutter Kiska

51) Bill Hubbard 25:21

52) Nicholas Lewis 25:25

53) Diane Nicole Lewis 25:26

54) Donna Wong Yuen 25:27

55) Jim Budde 25:39

56) Joshua Gaidos 25:58

57) Charles Sakoda 26:06

58) Edward Johns 26:15

59) Eli North 26:41

60) Kapua Lapera 26:52

61) Craig Dante 26:57

62) David Hammes 27:08

63) Patrick Donavon 27:12

64) Rylan Labrador 27:21

65) Sean Cunningham 27:29

66) Shanna Curtis 27:35

67) Harvey Nakasone 27:39

68) Kai Garson-Shumway 27:44

69) Coast Guard 27:47

70) Aaron Morita 27:53

71) Kevin Iwasaki 28:04

72) Ryan Andres 28:17

73) Dominic Hiro 28:28

74) Henry Wong 28:45

75) Cutter Kiska 29:27

76) Heather Rosario 29:28

77) Keliipaakaua Lily 29:28

78) Jason Matsushige 29:30

79) Ryan Lam 29:32

80) Kevin Hunter 29:54

81) Dennis Nagai 30:02

82) Michele Ebersol 30:23

83) Jackie Auna 30:28

84) Jess Swanson 30:25

85) Jakob Au 30:39

86) Dean Au 30:39

87) Duke Wilson 31:05

88) Kea Yoshitomi 31:34

89) Suzanne Swanson 31:35

90) Kelsey Poole 31:36

91) Jerry Chang 32:32

92) Levi Mangiboyat 32:33

93) Dominique DelChiaro 32:36

94) Rachel Clute 34:44

95) Mike Kaneda 35:40

96) Paul Haiola 35:57

97) Christian Bird 36:33

98) Phoebe Wyatt 36:46

99) JoAnne Pocsidio 36:47

November 11, 2010 Posted by waynejoseph | Running on the Big Island | Big Dog's Veterans Day 5K results, Dominic Hiro, Harvey Nakasone, Henry Wong, Kai Garson-Shumway, Kevin IUwasaki, Ryan Andres, Rylan Labrador, Sean Cunningham, Shanna Curtis, US Coast Guard Cutter Kiska | 1 Comment

Scholarship 5K Race Results

BIRR president, Steve Pavao, presented $1000 checks to Waiakea's Kaitlyn Chock and Hilo's Sai Weiss following the 5K event

Big Island Road Runners Scholarship 5k Run May 23, 2010 Coconut Island, 7:30am

Place	Name	Division	Female	Time
1	Alan Ryan	30-39			:	18	:	07
2	Jackson Halford	1-19			:	18	:	08
3	Justin Pang	1-19			:	18	:	15
4	Rick Michels	1-19			:	18	:	57
5	Steve Pavao	50-59			:	20	:	07
6	Tchad Henderson	30-39			:	20	:	24
7	Stuart Miyashiro	50-59			:	20	:	30
8	Sai Weiss	1-19			:	20	:	35
9	Linden Villena	30-39			:	21	:	29
10	Choy Bacor	30-39			:	21	:	30
11	Caleb J. Westfall	30-39			:	22	:	04
12	Lory Hunter	40-49	1		:	22	:	29
13	Zandrix Acob	1-19			:	22	:	41
14	DJ Blinn	60 & over			:	22	:	49
15	Daniel Okubo	1-19			:	23	:	27
16	Rob Van Geen	40-49			:	23	:	54
17	Thomas Fratinardo	40-49			:	23	:	54
18	James Tuscany	50-59			:	24	:	28
19	Eric Young	1-19			:	24	:	37
20	Kim Rojo	30-39	2		:	24	:	40
21	Daysen Masuda	1-19			:	24	:	50
22	Kelly Freitas	50-59			:	25	:	06
23	Robert Belcher	50-59			:	25		08
24	Shell Hamilton	20-24	3		:	25	:	23
25	Charles Keane	50-59			:	25	:	40
26	Big Dog	60 & over			:	25	:	40
27	Harvey Nakasone	50-59			:	26	:	13
28	Joanne Pocsidio	40-45	4		:	27	:	01
29	Firmin Tehero	50-59			:	27	:	38
30	Terran Kaleiwahea	1-19			:	28	:	30
31	Kevin Iwasaki	20-29			:	28	:	38
32	Kimo Like	1-19			:	29	:	02
33	Anthony Ganancial	30-39			:	29	:	09
34	Kekoa Kalahiki	1-19			:	29	:	13
35	Kristen Spees	20-29	5		:	29	:	51
36	Kim Furumo	50-51	6		:	29	:	54
37	Michelle Vieira	20-29	7		:	30	:	30
38	Dennis Shigioka	60 & over			:	30	:	52
39	Caleb R. Westfall	1-19			:	31	:	21
40	Pearl Acob	30-39	8		:	31	:	29
41	Bill Sakovich	60 & over			:	31	:	30
42	Cedrick Roberts-Perry	1-19			:	31	:	44
43	Adrel Vicente	30-39			:	32	:	10
44	Kyle Wana	1-19			:	32	:	42
45	Tyler Gerken	1-19			:	32	:	58
46	Kahea Kanuha	1-19	9		:	33	:	12
47	Sam Marrack	1-19	10		:	34	:	16
48	Christin DeCoito	1-19	11		:	34	:	34
49	Melia Taganas	1-19	12		:	34	:	46
50	Rick Otani	50-59			:	34	:	46
51	Lee Collins	50-59	13		:	34	:	47
52	Kainoa Crum	1-19			:	35	:	05
53	Nainoa Calip	1-19			:	35	:	35
54	Collen Fratinardo	50-54	14		:	37	:	19
55	Makoa Carreira	1-19			:	39		07
56	Boyd Ramos	1-19			:	39	:	07
57	Leah Pukahi	30-39	15		:	39	:	24
58	Micah Keawe	1-19			:	39	:	25
59	Michele Macanas	40-44	16		:	40	:	18
60	Piikea Miller	1-19	17		:	40	:	18
61	Kawehi Pua Kaikaina	1-19	18		:	40	:	59
62	Kiani Matsumoto	1-19	19		:	41	:	00
63	Kawika Kekaualua	1-19			:	41	:	50
64	Carle-Ann Mata	1-19	20		:	41	:	54
65	Ashley Deguzman-H.	1-19	21		:	41	:	58
66	NO NAME	NO AGE			:	44	:	19
67	Kiley Kelson	1-19	22		:	44	:	38
68	Iwalani Kaili	NO AGE			:	44	:	38
69	Gene Madriaga	1-19			:	46	:	33
70	Maka Branco	1-19			:	46	:	33
71	Casey Chai	1-19			:	47	:	02
72	John Fratinardo	1-19			:	47	:	02
73	Elijah Pung	1-19			:	47	:	02
74	John Marrack	1-19			:	47	:	18
75	Sally Marrack	30-39	23		:	47	:	19