David Carlsson Repeat Winner at Hilo to Volcano Ultra

It’s hard to keep track of everyone and all of the races. Especially a race that takes place the week after the H.U.R.T. 100. Dave joined us this morning on our run through Manoa.

Last year David Carlsson completed the 100K at H.U.R.T. and a week later went over to the Big Isle and won the Hilo to Volcano Ultra. Pretty gutsy performance but for those you who know David, he does things like that–fairly often.

This year he went back as defending champ and with a bit fresher legs (he didn’t run H.U.R.T. this year), took 26 minutes after his time. Congratulations David!!! David mentioned that Nick Kaiser and Tom Craven also ran this year.

Here’s a quote from David he sent me via e-mail:
"As far as my run went, compared to the
HURT runs, like the 100, Hogsback 12 Hour, or the Triple Trek, it was a
piece of cake. By the way, it’s been 27 years since my name made the
sports headlines. The last time was in 11th grade.  My high school won
a tough 16 team wrestling tournament during the holidays. The headline
read "Carlson icing on the cake". I was the only individual champion
for my winning team."

Ask David about his next big race. Hint: It takes place in Boston and is 26.2 miles.

Here’s the text of the article from the Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

Carlsson winner of tough race
   
Monday, January 28, 2008 8:53 AM HST

Running with the Big Dog

By Wayne Joseph

Despite a constant downpour and bone
chilling winds, Honolulu’s David Carlsson emerged victorious for the
second consecutive year in the running of the 17th Annual Hilo to
Volcano Ultra Marathon.

The event, held Saturday, is sponsored
by the Big Island Road Runners Club. The race begins at sea level in
the parking area of Moku Ola in Hilo and finishes 31 miles later at
Cooper Center in Volcano Village.

This year’s race attracted 34
ultra runners, an all-time high, with 32 crossing the finish which was
also a record. Only 19 managed to finish last year.

Carlsson,
43, was able to take 26 minutes off last year’s time and saw the cool
temperatures as a possible reason. "I felt really good today and even
thought that I might have a chance to break four hours," he said of his
4:01.11 performance.

Hilo’s Akira Tanaka and Paul Kriegler
managed to stay close as both challenged the punishing hills in
climbing to the 4,000-foot elevation.

"This was my first ultra
marathon," Tanaka said. "I was a bit confused as to where the turn off
to Volcano Village was and it probably cost me a minute or two, but all
in all I had a lot of fun doing the race."

Tanaka took second in 4:15.21 with Kriegler close behind at 4:15.50.

For the women, it was first time distance runner Jessica Kirkwood of Victoria, British Columbia winning in 4:36.37.

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

"I’ve never run a race over 25 kilometers
(15.5 miles)," Kirkwood said. "I wasn’t even sure I was going to enter
this race until the day before, but I’m glad I did."

Kirkwood,
who has elite running experience as a member of the Canadian National
Team, has now established herself as a strong and ultra harrier.

Experienced
runners Susan Cordell and Amy Ray-McWhinney followed in second and
third place, respectively. Both crossed the finish line together for
the third consecutive year.

"We enjoy running together," Cordell
said. "We are good friends." The duo will run the entire distance,
talking, laughing and enjoying each other’s company throughout the race.

The
fourth woman to cross the line was newcomer Amber Hanza of Keaau. "I’ve
always wanted to do a marathon (26.2 miles), but I couldn’t find any
that were done on Saturday’s," she said.

When Hanza discovered
that the 31-mile Hilo to Volcano race could satisfy her ambition goal,
she began to train and gradually built up a good distance base.

"I’d
ask the experienced runners for advice and they all said to go out slow
and try to maintain a conservative pace," she said. As a result, Hanza
was able to finish in 17th out of 32 finishers.

Also of note is
the effort of first time ultra runner Justin Pang. He is a junior at
Christian Liberty Academy and originally wanted to do the relay with
two of his classmates.

"We were planning to make a high school
relay team, but my friends dropped out a week before the race and I
couldn’t find anyone to run with," Pang said.

Pang then asked his parents if he could try the ultra, saying that he would quit after 15 to 18 miles.

"I had no plans on finishing this thing and just wanted to use it as a training run," he said.

Instead
this highly motivated 17-year-old continued past the 18-mile marker and
all the way up into Volcano Village to become the first high school
solo finisher in the race’s 17-year history.

Starting 30 minutes
after the ultra runners were 24 relay teams that were made up of two,
three, four and even five runners. Each member of the team was to run
two miles before handing off to the next member of the team in an
effort to see who could climb up the mountain first.

Two-time
defending champion "The Three Vatos" from Los Angeles, were the
favorites until their lead runner twisted his knee and the team was
forced to withdraw in the early going of the race.

That opened
the door for "Los Hombres – G" to win the event in 3:11.54. The
Hombres, who are current and former University of Hawaii at Hilo cross
country runners who live in Hilo, were challenged by "Mexicas," another
team from Los Angeles.

Two course records were set during the
relay portion of the race when a mixed team, calling itseld "Start Slow
and Fade" managed to reach Cooper Center in 4:17.00.

Todd
Marohnic, Bill McMahon and Lory Hunter recorded the record by using a
tandem bike instead of a car, to transport their non-runners up the
mountain.

"We were using different muscles to bike up the hill and at times it was pretty painful for me," Hunter said.

Despite the pain, the tandem trio managed to break the record, previously held by Team Higante, by more than 90 minutes.

McMahon and Marohnic now have their names appear in five different record categories for the Hilo to Volcano race.

"This
is my favorite race and we’re always looking for different challenges
and different ways we can have fun doing it," McMahon said.

The
other course record was set by "The Best of the ’60’s" a trio, made up
of 65-year-old Jon Kunitake, 61-year-old John Allen and 60-year-old Big
Dog that clocked in 4:30.16 to set the new 60 and over team record.

For more information on this event or any other Road Runner club activity, go to their web site at https://www.bigislandroadrunners.org or call 969-7400.

Paw Prints:

The next running and walking event in Hilo will be on Saturday, Feb. 16 when the BIRR host the post Valentine Day 5K (3.1-mile).

The
race is open to anyone, but couples will be encouraged to participate
with various divisions open to recognize the Valentine Day weekend.

Besides
having a boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife division, there will also
be father/daughter, mother/son and grandparent/grandchild categories.

The
fun begins in the parking area of Moku Ola in Hilo at 7:30 a.m. with
BIRR members free and non-members being charged $2 per person.

For more information, go to the BIRR web site or call their office at 969-7400. …

Running
and walking events cannot be produced if not for the many people that
contribute their time and effort as a volunteer. If you cannot
participate as runner or walker, then you should at least consider
helping out at these many health and fitness activities.

And the
next time you see a happy runner come passing through Hilo Bayfront,
remember to smile, say "woof" and never shy away from "Running with the
Big Dog."

The Big Dog can be reached through email at waiakeabigdog@aol.com.

Hilo to Volcano

Thirty-four runners and 22 relay teams competed in the 31-mile ultra marathon from Hilo to Cooper Center in Volcano Village.

Results from the 17th Hilo to Volcano Ultra Marathon

Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008

Timing/scoring by ABC Timing

Overall finish

individuals

1. David Carlsson Male 43 Honolulu 4:01:11

2. Akira Tanaka M 39 Hilo 4:15:21

3. Paul Kriegler M 24 Hilo 4:15:50

4. Nick Kaiser M 52 Honolulu 4:36:24

5. Jessica Kirkwood Female Keaau 4:36:37

6. Carlos Fuentes M 54 Waikoloa 4:40:43

7. Jim Woodhull M 51 Honolulu 4:41:17

8. Johnny Landeza M 45 Aiea 4:52:13

9. Jason Lester M 34 Kona 4:54:28

10. Hidehiko Harada M 37 Sapporo, Japan 5:05:33

11. Jeff Fong M 35 Honolulu 5:10:45

12. Wyatt Waro M 33 Honolulu 5:16:19

13. Susan Cordell F 45 Keaau 5:32:11

14. Amy Ray-McWhinney F 33 Keaau 5:32:12

15. Scott Kruis M 46 Corvallis, Ore. 5:40:25

16. Victor Eisen M 44 Pahoa 5:45:13

17. Amber Hanza F 25 Keaau 5:45:59

18. Stan Fortuna M 60 Hilo 5:47:31

19. Bo Goran Lundvist M 63 Pahoa 5:49:07

20. Cody Tehero M 20 Pepeekeo 5:54:52

21. Mark Essenberg M 42 5:57:48

22. David Matters M 26 Kapolei 6:01:03

23. Rob Patterson M 47 Hilo 6:02:13

24. James Tuscany M 54 Hilo 6:03:16

25. Tom Craven M 60 Honolulu 6:03:28

26. Caleb Westfall M 28 Hilo 6:05:45

27. Justin Pang M 17 Keaau 6:17:04

28. Laurence Macon M 63 San Antonio, Texas 6:17:20

29. Raymond Woo M 50 Hilo 6:19:35

30. Wily Woo M 28 Pearl City 6:26:39

31. Les Omura M 50 Honolulu 6:50:30

32. Eugene Bruckert M 72 Arlington Hts., Ill. 9:58:14

Relay teams

1. 3:11:54 Los Hombres "G" Open Men

(G. Ortiz, Gustavo, G. McCallister)

2. 3:15:02 Mexicas Open Men

(D. Morales, R. Morales, F. Corona)

3. 3:52:08 One Lucky Guy Open Mixed

(K. Busse, K. Warke, T. Warke)

4. 3:53:48 Hawaii Fire DOS Open Men

(C. Stelfot, J. Nixon, J. Freitas)

5. 3:56:21 Lele Panina-Point 4 Open Men

(A. Ryan, J. Lyle)

6. 4:00:51 Los Tres Vendettas Open Women

(A Sanchez, V. Mendoza, K. Andrew)

7. 4:14:22 The Three Stinkas Open Mixed

(D. Scott, K. Scott, Z. Lichty)

8. 4:16:22 Three New Friends Master Mixed

(M. Anderson, S. Pavao, G. Lum Ho)

9. 4:17:00 Start Slow & Fade Master Mixed (B. McMahon, T. Marohnic, L. Hunter)

10. 4:30:16 The Best of the 60’s Master Men

(J.
Allen, J. Kunitake, Big Dog)

11. 4:32:57 Ho, Brah! Open Mixed

(D. Dominick, B. McCullough, D. Thompson)

12. 4:43:34 Konohiki Wahine Open Women

(K. Kozar, L. Hadway, H. Hansen)

13. 4:44:53 Three Awesome Dudes Master Men (C. Bostwick, J. Gamble, D.J. Blinn)

14. 4:47:39 Two Firemen & A Hot Shot Open Men (J. Wedemann, D. Andon, M. Brigoli)

17. 4:52:46 Wonder Women Open Women

(R. Jenkinson, Sarah Day, S. Rutgers)

18. 5:11:51 Team Honu Master Mixed

(D. Wong Yuen, M. Hasselbring)

21. 5:24:34 Chicks with Running Fever Master Women (D. Cunningham, M. Cooke, L. Collins)

22. 6:16:09 Team Aurello Open Men

(M. Aurello, R. Aurello, T. Aurello)

Others:

— 4:51:51 Qualified Insanity Super Team

(J. Garcia, J. Johnston, R. Shutt, J. Lozano)

— 4:52:37 Gopher’s Broke Super Team

(M. Kuramoto, D. Weir, Betty Ben, C. Shigeoka)

— 5:16:35
Super Team Super Team

(M. Nora, Y. Nora, K. Stiendamm, D. Stickman)

— 5:22:13 Mixed Plate Super Team

(J. Natividad, L. Natividad, C. Malendiz, D. Huston)

— 6:30:55 Kamehonu Super Team

(D. Wela, B. Enos, M. Kahananui, M. Wela)

Race notes:

Maximum 3 members per relay team. Teams with more than three members are "unofficial" participants. …

ABC Timing includes lead scorer Curtis Beck, lead timer Mino Coria and lead statistician Bev Abril. …

Race results were submitted by Wayne "Big Dog’ Joseph.