Friday, July 2, 1999
Off-road twist to Waimea race
By Linda Aragon
Special to the Star-BulletinIf a standard triathlon is not rugged enough, you could always leave the pavement behind this weekend and join fat-tire lovers on the trails of Waimea Valley.
Race directors have added tomorrow's inaugural Jamba Juice Mountain Man Triathlon at Waimea Valley as the second in what they hope will be a series of off-road triathlons.
Race director Raul "Boca" Torres is also responsible for coordinating the Pflueger Honda Mountain Man Triathlon at Kualoa Ranch, which has taken place for the past few years in November. He said that a third triathlon is in the works on a neighbor island.
Tomorrow's race begins with a 500-meter swim at Waimea Bay at 8 a.m. The racers then make the bicycle transition across Kamehameha Highway at Waimea Valley Adventure Park. After the 20-kilometer (approximately 12-miles) bicycle ride, the racers run the round-trip 5-kilometer trail to Waimea Falls and then the finish line.
In addition to prizes for the top overall finishers, age-division and relay team winners, awards will be given to the first male and female to finish the swim half-way mark, the first to reach Waimea Falls on the running course, and the first to make it up the quadriceps-burning hill climb about three miles into the bike course.
Experienced off-road triathletes Lorna Erisman and her 15-year-old daughter, Allegra, said the bicycle portion of the race will clearly be the most challenging.
"The bike run will take the longest of them all," Lorna Erisman said. "There is this one hill, drum road (an old military dirt road), that's the major climb that everyone is dreading," she said.
Erisman said competitors can expect to walk their bikes through a few sections of the course that include boulders and another portion with low lying trees.
Call Team Boca at 737-8985 to secure a spot. Late entries are $50.00 for individuals and $80.00 for relay teams.
