WAIMEA — As Stan Kanna charged down the final stretch of the 39th annual Captain Cook Caper Run, his smile couldn’t have been any bigger.
Finishing a 5K race is nice, of course, but when you’ve got family joining you and cheering for you, it’s even better.
“He’s coming, he’s coming,” shouted his daughter, Audree Roman, who had already finished.
With wife Trish, daughter-in-law Brook Bernardino and sister-in-law Terri Matsuoka rooting him on, Kanna was delighted as he celebrated Saturday morning after the run, which was part of the Waimea Town Celebration.
“Awesome,” said Roman. “He made it.”
Maybe there was a little doubt.
After all, Kanna was competing in the fun run in Waimea for the first time in about 20 years. But he did well and covered the 3.1 miles in 49 minutes and 8 seconds.
What convinced him to return?
“My wife,” he said, laughing.
“I need company,” said Trish Kanna, who finished about 7 minutes in front of her husband.
She admits she had to offer some incentives to get him to the starting line.
“Bribing, bribing,” she said.
Stan made Trish proud.
“He did great considering he worked at the park, at the food booth all night until 12:30, and then woke up early to come run,” she said. “He has to be to the park to work again today.”
All told, 97 runners completed the 5K, while 41 finished the 10K and 16, the 2K. Athletes in the longer distances were bused to their starting lines on Kaumualii Highway, then made their way back to the finish at Waimea Plantation Cottages. The event benefited the Waimea High School track team.
The 7 a.m. starting time meant cool, cloudy conditions. Add in the flat course, and it was perfect for a good run.
Jordan Lerma of Hanapepe defended his 10K title, making it look easy as he cruised across the finish line in 34:31. He pulled away in the second half from Ken Wedel of Maryland, who finished in 35:19, to claim first place.
“I had someone to run with this time,” he said.
The 24-year-old used the Caper Run as a tuneup for next Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon.
Lerma said it was great to win in Waimea again.
“I threw in a surge (at the 6K mark) to get my legs ready for next week,” said Lerma, who completed the Boston and Chicago marathons last year.
Amy Smith of Kapaa led the women in the 10K in 43:45.
“The first half was wonderful. The second half, I definitely had to push it,” she said.
While she trains often, she rarely races. It was her first time in the Captain Cook run.
“A great race,” she said.
In the 5K, Kekoa Kimata-Lopez of Hanapepe started steady and finished strong, winning in 20:19.
“I heard people telling me, ‘There’s someone behind you,’ so at the end by the fire hydrant I started booking it,” the 15-year-old said.
Kimata-Lopez followed his prerace strategy.
“In the beginning, cruise it, feel I’m ready to race. Then when my blood started pumping, then I went,” he said.
His younger brother, Kainoa Kimata-Lopez, took the 2K title in 9:31, while his mom, Janis Kimata, was the first female finisher in the 2K in 12:43.
Kimata has won the Captain Cook Caper Run 10 times — six 5K titles and four 10K titles. She doesn’t run as often as she used to, but still loves sharing the sport with her sons and watching them run in school races, too.
“I’m very proud of them,” she said.
Kimata is a big fan of community fun runs.
“It’s great to see all these people out here,” she said.
Leigh Hicks of Kapaa won the woman’s 5K title, finishing in 23:23.
The mother of two has little time for training, so she came out just planning to have a pleasant run on a nice day.
Then, a mile or so into the race, she realized she was in first place.
“I started to push it a little bit more,” she said. “I was thinking there must be somebody right behind me.”
There wasn’t.
Winning, she said, “was very unexpected.”
“But it’s nice,” Hicks added.
Duane Samiano was back on Kauai in time for Saturday’s race. Originally from here, he recently moved to Saipan where he works for the Transportation Security Administration.
He was pleased to return and finish in 41:19, while his wife, Karen, finished just in front of him in 39:58.
“Pretty good, actually, for not having done anything in a while,” he said.
