LIHU‘E — Three Kaua‘i triathletes joined a field of a dozen spots as Epic 5 launched in the wee hours Wednesday morning. Lisa Ledesma and Joe Kali made up Team Kaua‘i and Casey McGraw drew the Kaua‘i Solo Charity Athlete
LIHU‘E — Three Kaua‘i triathletes joined a field of a dozen spots as Epic 5 launched in the wee hours Wednesday morning.
Lisa Ledesma and Joe Kali made up Team Kaua‘i and Casey McGraw drew the Kaua‘i Solo Charity Athlete spot among the field, which welcomed the dawn with the start of the 26.2-mile run at 3 a.m. in Princeville, followed by the 2.4-mile swim in Hanalei before embarking on the 112-mile bicycle phase, which took the triathletes out to Polihale before ending at the Lihu‘e Airport.
Epic 5, the brainchild of Jason Lester, is a 5-day, 5-island event covering 703 miles starting on Kaua‘i and moving on to O‘ahu, Moloka‘i and Maui before ending in Kailua, Kona. The distances are equal to five Iron distance triathlons on each island.
“The County of Kaua‘i is very supportive of events which promote good health such as the Epic 5 Challenge, and we are delighted Kaua‘i is the first stop for this extreme endurance event,” said George Costa, director of the county’s Office of Economic Development, in a release. “We extend our well wishes to all the participants, especially Kaua‘i residents Lisa Ledesma, Joseph Kali and Casey McGraw and hope that everyone attains their goals.”
Lester, the founder of Epic 5 in 2010, is among the triathletes competing, and the others include Carlos Llano of Spain, Michael Flartey of the U.S., Pep Sanchez of Spain, Sebastian Niklitschek Soto of Chile, and Matt Cunningham of U.S.
Team Kaua‘i members are Ledesma and Kali, Team Moloka‘i members are Will Carlson on the bicycle portion and Philip Kikukawa on the run phase. Team O‘ahu includes Stefan Reinke in the swim, Brian Carr on the bicycle and Rick Varley on the run. Team Kona and Team Maui members were not available at press time.
A county spokesperson said there were no incidents involving the Epic 5 reported by Tuesday afternoon.
Costa expressed his appreciation of everyone who were mindful of the event and demonstrated their aloha spirit to the triathletes during their single-day Iron distance experience.
Following the completion of the total 140.6 miles Wednesday, the athletes catch a plane to O‘ahu where they do it all over again for the second day in the five-day event.
