Everybody, says Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., knows the Electric Slide.
And if you don’t, you can learn it at Saturday’s Mayor-a-thon — and perhaps help Kauai set a record at the same time.
“This dance touches everyone, from young to middle age to old,” Carvalho said in a recent interview with The Garden Island.
This is the 10th anniversary of the Mayor-a-thon, and each year, the Electric Slide has been part of the action. It has become a signature dance of the mayor, who performs it at events throughout the island when called upon to do so. It’s fun, lively and a blend of balance and artistry.
He’ll be back at it Saturday morning at Kapaa Beach Park, and hopefully, be joined by more than 1,000 others.
Kauai is after the record of most people performing the dance at the same time. It had hoped to gain an entry in the Guinness World Records, but learned it did not began the process in time to qualify, but that didn’t lessen spirits and instead, it will still go for as many as it can. There will be Electric Slide experts stationed through the dance area so people can follow their movements.
“It’s easy, everybody knows it,” Carvalho said. “Visitors from all over the country know it. Let’s do it.”
If dancing isn’t your thing, well, perhaps walking is. Or biking. Or running. Or Zumba. The Mayor-a-thon has it all, with the goal of getting people up and moving, not just for minutes or hours, but for a lifetime.
“It’s about exercise activity, health and wellness. You can dance it, you can bike it, you can walk it, you can run it,” said Carvalho, who is in his 10th and final year as Kauai’s mayor and is running for lieutenant governor. “As long as you’re moving, doing something active, that was the whole purpose of this event.”
Carvalho, by the way, doesn’t just lead the dance. He bikes the course and stops along the way and joins volunteers in demonstrating Zumba, hula and line dancing, too.
“I love it. It’s fun for me, my own family just to see kupuna coming,” he said.
The Mayor-a-thon’s origin goes back to a comment by Rick Skerik, husband of Bev Brody, director of Get Fit Kauai. It was the same year of the inaugural Kauai Marathon and Skerik said, why not a mayor-a-thon?
“I’ll ask the mayor,” Bev Brody said.
The mayor loved the idea because it was also the opening of Phase II of Ke Ala Hele Makalae, the Kapaa coastal path that today stretches from Lydgate Park to just past Donkey Beach, and he wanted a way to showcase it.
“I wanted everybody to experience the path,” Carvalho said.
The event has grown from a few hundred participants and a few sponsors the first year to more than 1,000 and nearly 20 sponsors his year. People, Brody said, plan vacations around it. Families come out, as do husbands and wives, sons and daughters, and uncles and aunties.
“It’s grown in every way,” she said.
Everything at the Mayor-a-thon is free, including breakfast, T-shirts for early entrants and some years water bottles, too.
Carvalho loves the strong partnerships that have been forged by the Mayor-a-thon. It’s believed it has changed the landscape and attitude when it comes to physical fitness on Kauai.
“All the projects we do regarding health and wellness tie in,” Brody said.
“It didn’t matter what state of fitness you were at, if you could walk or run or bike. The whole point was to come out, keiki to kupuna, whether you’re in a wheelchair or disabled,” Carvalho said. “It’s about health and wellness, enjoying the outdoors and our beautiful coastal path.”
Despite its success, this could be the last Mayor-a-thon. A new mayor will be elected in November, and it’s up to that person whether to continue it.
The mayor would like to see it go on and believes it is one of the island’s best community events.
If the next mayor opts to go a different direction, Carvalho said perhaps it could continue with another name: Lieutenant Governor-a-thon.
“Get Fit Kauai will go and help with that one as well,” said a smiling Bev Brody.
Mayor-A-Thon
The 10th annual Mayor-a-thon is Saturday at Kapaa Beach Park.
• Online pre-registration: is at www.getfitkauai.com and runs through June 22 at noon. The first 500 to pre-register will receive a free T-shirt. All participants will receive a free cinch bag from Kaiser Permanente. There are prizes, too.
• Participants can walk, run or bike: one, two, four, six or eight miles on Ke Ala Hele Makalae, the multi-use path. Dogs on leashes are welcome.
• Check-in: begins at 6:30 a.m., warm-up is at 7 a.m., and the event starts at 7:15 a.m.
• A Healthy Food Drive: is also part of the event with proceeds going to the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and The Hawaii Food Bank – Kauai Branch.
• Suggested items: to donate include: canned fruits and vegetables; brown or hapa rice; whole grains; dried beans and lentils; canned low sodium meat; or shelf stable milk with calcium.
• Free bus service: will be provided for participants. Check www.getfitkauai.com for a schedule of pickup times.
