Big Dog’s Valentine’s Day run/walk results

115 runners and walkers took part in the Big Dog's Valentine's Day event

pre race instuctions

BIG DOG’s Valentine’s Day 3.2-mile run/walk results

1. Billy Barnett         17:33
2. Chris Mosch         17:53
3.  Jason Braswell    18:02
4. Johan Dana          18:48
5. Justin Pang          18:52
6. Louie Perry          18:57
7. Mike Daly             19:15
8. Jomar Matias       19:45
9. Bryce Harada        20:03
10. Roycen Deymer   20:16    
11. David Santiago     22:53
12. Josh Stallsmith     23:01
13. KC Stallsmith        23:02
14. Melissa Braswell  23:17
15. Dawn Velasquez 23:20
16. Jarred Yates          23:36
17. Arjun Clarry          23:43
18. Isabel Camp         23:51
19. Rick Camp            23:51
20. Nick Mildon         24:02
21. Katie Mennenga 24:02
22. Eric Helmes          24:15
23. Cameron Anderson 24:20
24. Bill Hubbard        24:25
25. Nina Caiserman   24:32
26. Paul Booth           25:10
27. Dena Rae              25:45
28. Glen Ishii              25:53
29. Esther Kanehailua 26:05
30. Shea Pitoy             26:10
31. Kelly Freitas        26:10
32. Lisa Bryant         26:14
33. Carla Marzi        26:38
34. James Hank        26:45
35. Big Dog               26:47
36. Melissa Schad    26:54
37. Joanne Pocsidio  27:12
38. Lauren Pacheco   27:20
39. Micah Kanehailua 27:31
40. Missing                   27:32
41. Toru Ikeda               27:45

1. Andrew Misitano   27:55
2. Gina McGuire          28:03
3. Joel Trusdell            28:13
4. Kiko Camp               28:14
5. DJ Sekiya                  28:18
6. Asia Addlesberger  28:33

Imelda Tamayo   28:36, Dawn Patterson       28:50,    Richard Kerr             29:51,    Pomai Evans-Baustista 29:56

Rachel Addlesberger  29:58,  Brie Corpuz                  30:09    Magnus Namohala-Roloos 30:40

Shawna Hank          31:16,   Rae Mori                  31:27,   Dave Adachi            31:32        Rudy Arzaga            31:33

Lynne Kiranka-Pitoy 31:45    Dale Sekiya         31:48     Gerard Callo       33:00      Marla Hank         33:17

Matt Lum             33:54     Richard Alderson 33:57    Brandon Morita   34:13     Mike Gleason      34:16

Joann Aurello      34:24   Aaron Morita      34:28     Amanda Zen       34:30      Marissa Salazar  34:58

Gina Durante      34:59    Joel Nathansen   35:55    Noemi Arzaga     35:55    Marissa Bryant-Manago 35:57

Jennifer Maninga  36:26   Claire Shigeoka     36:27     Calvin Pitoy           36:36      Misty Inouye         36:38

Scott Inouye          37:05     Joy Pollard           37:11     Micah Namohala   37:58       Florencio Guerpo    38:22

Kamalanai Kekuawa  38:38    Halia Evans-Bautsita  38:53     Noa Caiserman          38:54    Lorraine Hubbard     39:12

Loke Bautista             40:31    Kalei Namohala         40:37     John McGuire            40:37     Lois McGuire             40:38

Marie Kurimoto        40:39     Russell Hayashi          41:02    Mykelah Ojano-Daly 41:04    Rodney Aurello          41:11

Bryson Pavao            41:25     Virginia Alderson      41:31       Ashley Midel            42:22     Makamae Bautista   43:36

Cheryl Ostrowski  43:36     Jack Roney 43:53      Sharon Sekiya 46:02      Su Lambert 47:13

Debbie Namohala 48:43     Malcolm Maku Roloos 50:18     Betty Maku 50:25      Ariana Nussbaum 50:25

Randi Saplan 55:29      Kyle Saplan 56:17     Cindy Saplan 56:17    Eldon Lindsey 1:03:54

Mell nakao 1:03:54    Joy Nakao 1:05:15    Lorretta Nussbaul 1:05:59

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Distance Runners are Special People

     Recently I attended the athletic awards ceremony for Waiakea High School and was impressed with the high number of scholar athletes (those that maintained a 3.3 grade point average or higher) that participate in sports.

   One example was the Warrior cross-country team which awarded varsity letters to 46 boys, 31 of them scholar athletes, and 17 girls, with 13 scholar athletes, an impressive number by any standard.

   Many of those young harriers were also student body leaders, involved in community service clubs and a couple was serving as their schools valedictorians.

   Distance running is one of the oldest sports known to humans, if not the oldest.  It requires internal motivation and perseverance and can serve as a marker for how much time and effort were devoted to this single pursuit.

  The only community based, non-profit organization, which recognizes the efforts of the high school runner through a cash grant scholarship is the Big Island Road Runners.

   Four years ago the BIRR started a scholarship program for graduating public high school seniors that gave a modest $500 to a boy and $500 to a girl.  The BIRR has since doubled their scholarship to $1000 each and has, for the past three years, given an additional $500 to a private school runner. 

    This year’s public school awards went to two valedictorians in Keaau’s Amy Eriksson and Waiakea’s Bryce Harada, with the private school partial scholarship award going to Kamehameha’s Kaitlyn Yamamoto.

    Eriksson and Harada concluded their high school careers with cumulative grade point average of 4.1 and Yamamoto finished with a 3.9 making them exceptional scholar athletes who performed well in running and in the classroom.

   Eriksson is headed to Bingham Young University-Hawaii, Harada to University of Hawaii-Hilo and Yamamoto to UH-Manoa.

   On Sunday the trio was on hand at the BIRR Scholarship 5K run/walk to take part in the morning run followed by a brief award ceremony to receive their scholarship checks.

   During the race it was newcomer Donald Truesdell getting out to a quick start with Hilo’s Johan Dana and Akira Tanaka giving case.

   Dana managed to stay within a stride behind Truesdell before the youngster from Chico State began to separate himself.

5K Runner-Up Johan Dana cross finish line

    Truesdell, who finished his freshmen year at Chico State where he runs cross-country, won in 17 minutes flat with Dana clocking in at 17:36 and Tanaka, finished at 17:58.

   “I was hoping to run under 17 minutes today,” Truesdell said after the race, “but I’m satisfied with the effort.  I took two weeks off distance running to concentrate on doing track work, and I’ll be staying on the island for a month before heading back to California.”

   Truesdell is the nephew of Kamehameha cross-country coach, Joel Truesdell, as both were on hand to see Yamamoto receive her scholarship award from the BIRR.

   Following in fourth place was Amlsom Teklai, 18:01, with Christian Liberty’s Justin Pang, 19:20; Waiakea’s Bryce Harada, 19:39, Keaau’s Shannon While, 20:19; Alex Hatzis, 21:02, Steve Pavao, 21:04, Jeremy Buttz, 21:43; Adam Busek, 22:24 and Dano Banks, 22:49, rounded out the top men.

   For the women it was Cindy Fuke, a nurse at Hilo Hospital, leading the way to win in 23 minutes and 13 seconds.

   “This was a perfect day for running,” Fuke said after the race.  “I’m hoping that I can someday run under 22 minutes for a 5K as it is something that I’ve set as a goal.”

   Fuke used the 5K run as part of her morning workout and later hit the road to do another nine miles.  “Sunday’s are always my long runs and I was hoping to get 12 to 13 miles in this morning,” she said.

   Following Fuke for the women were Kaitlyn Yamamoto, 23:55; Amy Eriksson, 24:57; Esther Kanehailua, 24:57;   Rae Mori, 26:45;  Jill Macki, 27:47; Betty Maeua, 33:01; Jill Osborn, 33:25; and Kekai Wong-Yuen in 37:02 wrapped up the top women for the day.

  Following the event the BIRR held a scholarship ceremony to honor Harada, Eriksson and Yamamoto. 

   “Even though I may not be leaving the BIIF (Big Island Interscholastic Federation) with many championships and titles, I consider myself a dedicated runner an am honored that this association has found me to be a worthy recipient of your scholarship.  In return for this honor, I will stay worthy and commit myself to running throughout my life,” Eriksson said.

   Yamamoto, who is headed to UH-Manoa, plans of being a walk on for the Rainbows cross-country team and Harada, who will be attending UHH, will continue to run in local community races.

BIG DOG 5K MAKES BIG SPLASH

Rainy Day Winners, Ikaika Ho, Shelila De Bourmont, Johan Dana

This past weekend saw a tropical storm blow in and dump buckets of rain onto Hilo and the rest of the state. With the cold winds blowing it gave many a good reason to stay in bed and get some extra sleep.

Yet some people got up early to get ready for work and to provide the many services that go on despite the terrible weather conditions. Still others woke before the crack of dawn to get in their regular weekend exercise run.

“I don’t like to make excuses for not exercising,” marathon runner Johan Dana said. “Running is something I do no matter what the weather is like; I just don’t make any excuses for not getting out there.”

Dana, along with many health conscience people in our community, are believers in the benefits associated with aerobic types of exercise and they will workout in all types of weather in order to reap its rewards.

There are a lot of good reasons to get out and go for a run or walk. Many of those reasons have to do with the betterment of your health and this past Saturday runners and walkers turned out in the pouring rain to participate in the Big Dog 5K.

Leading the way were Johan Dana, Ikaika Ho, Bryson Kobayashi and Chris Mosch. Dana got out to a quick pace and by the first mile had separated himself from the rest of the soggy group.

“I felt good and once I got going the rain didn’t bother me at all,” Dana said. The former University of Hawaii-Hilo cross-country runner traversed the course to finish in 17 minutes 59 seconds.

“It was a bit slow running today, with all the puddles and slippery conditions,” Dana said. For the former Vulcan it was his third consecutive East Hawaii 5K (3.1-miles) victory and one of his wettest.

Following in second place was another former Vulcan runner and current Waiakea track sprint coach, Ikaika Ho in 18:31, with Warrior distance runner Bryson Kobayashi taking third in 19:03.

Rounding out the top men were Chris Mosch, a Honokaa High cross-country star, 19:35; Johann Kuipers, 20:21; Alan Ryan, 20:36; Carlos Fuentes, 20:47; former Keaau high track standout John Sanchez, 21:07; Caden Yamamoto, 21:38; Chayse Collins, 21:41; and Jackson Halford in 22:21.

For the women it was Hilo High’s Shalila De Bourmont, 22:26; Waiakea’s Kelsie Kobayashi, 22:38; Lory Hunter, 23:05; Amy Kama, 24:51; Alyssalyn Buyuan, 30:16; Chelsey Buyuan, 30:27; Hollie Lambert, 32:13; Joyce Dyorak, 32:49; Brittney Imade, 32:49; Suyzanne Swanson, 33:44; and Emily Kuyat, 34:45; rounded out the top women.

Hunter, who finished third for the women, coaches distance runners for the Hilo High cross-country and track programs. “It was really a wet one today, but it was also a lot of fun,” she said after the race.

Hunter’s youngest son who just finished a successful season with Parks and Recreation track & field, Stephen, stayed close to his mom and finished 15^th overall with a time of 23:14.

Young Jack Roney, in his 70’s, showed up to walk the course with his umbrella and enjoyed being out, despite the weather. “I walk all the time and a little rain isn’t going to stop me from doing what I enjoy,” Roney said.

The youngest participant was Jesse Swanson, age 11, went out of his way to find the biggest puddles to jump in and run through. “I’m hoping I can beat my mom,” Jesse said during the race while talking with the Big Dog.

Exercise isn’t about waiting for the right moment or perfect weather condition to get out. If you wait for the ideal opportunity to do anything you will be left far behind in any endeavor.

Don’t make excuses for yourself. Getting out for an hour walk or 30-minute run four to five times a week is what will keep us younger and healthier as we begin to age.

Jospeph Addison had it right when he said, “If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.”

PAW PRINTS:

Late registration for the Big Island International Marathon, Hilo’s only certified 26.2-mile event, will continue from now until Saturday, March 21.

Besides the marathon the event will hold a certified half-marathon (13.1-miles) which begins with the marathoners in Pepeekeo, winds its way into Hilo using the 4-mile scenic route and other back roads, then goes out to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel before turning back to the finish, at Bayfront.

More than 200 runners have signed up for the marathon and over 300 athletes have signed up for the half-marathon. There will also be a 5K (3.1-mile) run/walk that will start and end at Hilo’s Bayfront.

Also on March 21, from noon to 6 pm at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel with be a Health & Fitness Expo which is free and open to the public. Many vendors will provide free services which includes Ki Mana Academy Massage, Waiakea High Health Academy Body Fat Analysis, and talk about your feet with Dr. David Arkin, podiatrist; with samples from Herbalife, and much more.

For more information go to www.hilomarathon.org or call the race director at 969-7400…………

Smiles don’t have to be saved for a rainy day. It’s good to waste them!

And someday should you happen to see a wet and happy runner come passing through the streets of Hilo remember to smile, say “woof” and never shy away from “Running with the Big Dog.”

Email the Big Dog at waiakeabigdog@aol.com.

Smiling in the Rain, just prior to start of 5K run/walk