GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Kona will be among the performers cheering runners on at the "Rock Around the Park" run Sunday in Waikiki.

Waikiki run offers
toe-tapping tunes

The inaugural event serves as
a prelude to a race for competitors
eyeing the Olympics

Spend time with friends and family, enjoy some sun -- if we're lucky -- and listen to a little music Sunday during the inaugural Jamba Juice "Rock Around the Park" 5K/10K run.

Between 1,000 and 1,200 people are expected to gather at the fun run, which winds its way down Kalakaua Avenue from Niketown Plaza to Kapiolani Park. But there may be a few more people at a couple of "big sister" events next week, like the JAL Honolulu Triathlon, now in its second year.

"Rock Around the Park" is just one in a weeklong series of community events leading up to the JAL International Triathlon Union World Cup and the Honolulu Triathlon, to be held April 16 and 17 (see sidebar). But "Rock Around the Park" is a little different in that counted among its cheerleaders will be five performers -- Kona, Coconut Joe, Christian and Friends, Kalaeloa, and Roy Sakuma with his 10-member ukulele troupe -- greeting participants at the first five designated mile markers, revving up the crowd and racers. And you don't need to train to be a part of the excitement.

"We want to make sure it works right," said John Korff, who, with Bill Burke, is co-directing the Honolulu Triathlon, the U.S. segment of the World Cup and all coordinating events. "We mean to make it look like (Rock around the Park) is in its 10th year, not its first year."

"It is a good-sized first event," said Burke, who got his start in the sport while hanging out in a friend's running shop in New Orleans in the 1970s.

Though just an infant, "Rock Around the Park" has a stellar pedigree. Burke has produced more than 35 running events in 24 cities across the nation, and Korff has arranged sporting events, such as golf and tennis tournaments, for 25 years.

"We wanted to try and create different things that would appeal to different age groups. We wanted to get people involved in something they might never do.

"(But) when I mentioned music, Bill looked at me cross-eyed," Korff said.

The idea grew on Burke, who designs the race courses. After planning began last fall for the Rock Around the Park, the duo asked Crater 96 for help picking the acts.

As a warm-up act for the April 16 triathlon, Burke and Korff said they wanted the "Rock Around the Park" event to involve the community with the athletic competitions in a less intimidating way.

April 16's race will determine whether or not athletes will be able to compete in the 2005 world championships, the first event in the qualifying cycle for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The first U.S. male and female to cross the finish line at the JAL ITU World Cup automatically qualify for the 2005 World Championships in Japan.

The elite race course includes a 1,500-meter (one-mile) swim in Waikiki, a 40K (25-mile) bike race of five loops around Diamond Head, and a 10K (six-mile) run of three loops along Monsarrat and Kalakaua Avenues and back finishing on Kalakaua Avenue.

Approximately 150 male and female national and international competitors are expected to participate in the elite race. The top American contenders include Barb Lindquist, winner of last year's Honolulu Triathlon -- Race to Athens; Laura Reback; Susan Williams, Triathlon Bronze Medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens; Hunter Kemper; Andy Potts: and Victor Plata.

FOR NOW, "Rock Around the Park" is billed as first event of its kind in Hawaii to combine music and running, the emphasis is on rock 'n' roll and Hawaiian music at this casual event. Among the featured performers will be artist Kona, who sounds a bit like John Mayer or Jack Johnson. If his voice sounds familiar, you might recognize it from radio, where his night job is as a DJ for Power 104.3, working the 7 p.m. to midnight shift. He'll be stationed near the Waikiki Aquarium as participants mosey by.

"We're just going to jam," said Kona of himself and the congo player who'll join him on Sunday. "I will play everywhere and anywhere."

Kona, who grew up playing Hawaiian and country music, has played at more unusual places than the makeshift stage. Starting as a 13-year-old drummer for Paradise Knights, he would have to stand outside and sip soda during break time whenever the band would play bars.

These days, he's often joined by other musicians depending on the type of venue he plays, but the talented musician plays all the instruments except for the keyboard on his first solo CD "Changed." His CD release party will be held at Blaisdell Exhibition Center during the new products convention scheduled for April 16.

Speaking of the Sunday race, Korff said, similar run and rock events are held elsewhere, such as Rock 'N' San Diego.

"There's a natural link between music and running. If you jog or run and listen to headsets, that's cool," said Korff. "We wanted upbeat, energetic rock 'n' roll. No ballads or love songs about broken hearts. (The bands we picked) are great guys who get it."

There are plans underway for a second "Rock Around the Park" next year, with more music and held in the cool of the evening.

"Rock the town, rock the park. We have big plans to make it a really big race," said Korff.

"We just want to encourage people to come out and have fun," said Burke, a self-described "running groupie." "Treat it seriously or just walk it."