Peaman The Sixth Annual New Year's Resolution Run Lanihau Center, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii January 11, 1998

1/17/98

Peaman Tees Off On Prehistoric System

It was early Sunday morning. Runners were stretching and warming up for a race. As they all gathered together for the start, a light bulb lit up over my head and a great idea entered my mind. Why should they run all the way to the finish? Why not stop just as the final sprint would begin, then we could get a panel of experts together and vote who we think should be number one?

We could use these rankings to set up some winner-take-all match points. We could match our theoretical number one with number eight while number two could race number three and so on. The races would be called the Hibiscus Bowl and the Lemon Bowl. Our champion would be decided by who was the most impressive in their victory!

It would be great! Nobody would ever have to race to the finish for a victory again. Our panel of experts would just vote and then rank them. It might seem like a ridiculous idea to some, but it sure seems to work in college football, doesn't it? Suddenly the screech of an alarm clock woke me up and I realized it was all just a nightmare. Running wasn't going to change. There would be no polls, no bowls and just one champion who earned it by finishing first!

Now that I was awake I was thrilled that it was time to head down to Lanihau Center for the Sixth Annual New Year's Resolution Run. It's always a nice way to start the year even if most of us had already broken all of our resolutions.

The 6.2 miler took off first with a strong group of front runners. Last year's champ, Karl "Happy Cat" Honma wasn't looking to socialize and quickly shot to the lead. As Honma soloed out front, Wayne "Big Dog" Joseph, Carolyn Lowe-Thompson and Mark Thompson gave chase.

Lowe-Tompson, who coaches the HPA girl's cross country and track teams, was looking smooth as she stayed with the top men. Two time defending champ and course record holder Autumn Johnson was following about 20 seconds back with Tom McCue and Leonardo Fraga.

As they reached the halfway point Honma was in complete control. He was so far ahead he could have stopped for breakfast and still won, but, in his usual fashion, Honma continued to push the pace and extended his lead. By the time he reached the finish line Honma had extended his lead to almost four minutes. He crossed the line in 34:53 and easily eclipsed his winning time of 36:30 from last year.

The battle for second overall looked like it would be a race between Carolyn Lowe-Thompson and "Big Dog" Joseph. As they began their final mile, Lowe-Thompson had a solid lead and was shooting for the course record of 41:10 set by Autumn Johnson last year. Lowe-Thompson blazed her way over the final mile and crossed the line second overall and first for the ladies in a record time of 38:39.

Joseph was next taking third overall and first in the 50-59 age group with his time of 38:50. Fourth went to Mark Thompson (39:08). Tom McCue ran a great final mile that moved him into fifth overall and second in 50-59 (39:10). Leonardo Fraga took sixth (39:25).

Autumn Johnson was next in seventh overall and second for the ladies. Johnson's time of 39:27 also put her under her previous record of 41:10. Vader Dard Aller followed in eighth (39:47). Ninth went to Don Hagen (40:08). Aja Eversfield closed out the top 10 (40:24).

Following Lowe-Thompson and Johnson in the women's field was third place Amy Robertson (47:15), Lea Koomoa-Gulfan in fourth (48:32) and Mouse Kelley was fifth (49:48).

Shortly after the first race began, a group of 69 runners and walkers took off to cover a 3.1 course. Following in Honma's footsteps was one of his former runners, Robert Olson. Just like Honma, Olson blasted right to the front and quickly established a huge lead. With Olson out front, Jon Kunitake and Harry "The Hammer" Yoshida were left to battle for second.

Olson made the 3.1-mile course look easy as he blasted to a winning time of 15:53. Olson won last year's race in 16:14 and just recently placed fifth in the Division III college cross country national championships.

While Olson continues to improve and impress us as one of our island's best runners ever, Jon Kunitake at age 55 also continues to improve and show us that age has no barriers. Kunitake glided his way to the finish in a time of 17:44; that's 5:43 per mile.

Hammer Yoshida kept it close and finished third (17:59). Fourth went to Donald Kick from Palm Springs, Calif. (19:17). Dane Decker took fifth overall (19:22). Brown Bear was next (19:30) and Lambert Lee Lot wrapped up the top seven (21:03).

The race for the top ladies' spot turned out to be the closest and most exciting of the day. The trio of Ellen Carlson, Beverly Lee Loy and Jane Parrish of Fairbanks, Alaska, held places 8th through 10^th overall and top three in the ladies race. With just one mile to go Carlson was in front with Lee Loy and Parrish just seconds back. During the downhill on Henry street, Lee Loy moved to the front while Carlson and Parrish tried to hang on.

As they approached the finish Lee Loy had powered her way to a slight lead and crossed the line first for the ladies and eighth overall (21:07). Carlson was next taking second (21:17). Just steps behind was Parrish (21:20). Her time was also good for first in the 50-59 age group. Fourth went to Lisa Malapit (22:22). Tiare Easley closed out the top five just seconds later (22:26).

If you missed the Resolution Run, don't worry because this year's calendar is full of fun events that can help you reach your fitness goals. This weekend brings us a double header with the Hilo to Volcano Ultra Marathon and Relay Run Saturday and Peaman Sprint Biathlon Sunday.

The Hilo to Volcano race covers 31 miles uphill from downtown Hilo to Volcano Village. Ultra runners will begin at 6:15 a.m. while the relay teams will take off at 7:00 a.m. Call (808) 966-4617.

On Sunday at 8:00 a.m. Peaman's 1998 training schedule will kick off with a half-mile swim and a three mile run. Call (808) 324-PEAS with questions.