Jacob Teter came away from the Old Koloa Sugar Mill Run 5k on Saturday a richer man.
“My mom told me there’s no way I was going to win and said she would give me 100 bucks if I won,” he said, grinning.
He won.
The 25-year-old from Kekaha took first place in the 3.1-mile race in 22 minutes and 21 seconds to top a field of 242 runners.
“I was feeling pretty tired toward the end. It was fun, though,” he said. “It was a good race.”
Of that $100, some of that is going to his sister, Summer Navarrete, who led the women’s 5k in 23:48.
“I’ll give her $20,” Teter said, laughing.
The 14-year-old encouraged her older brother to run the race for the first time.
“When we started training, she was beating me, so I knew she was going to win,” he said.
The two stayed together through the early miles on the Koloa bypass road, then Teter realized he could win and charged off.
“I had to try and get first place,” he said.
Teter was more proud of his sister’s performance than his own.
“She’s a really good runner. She’s got a great future in running coming up for sure,” he said.
Navarrete, who just finished the cross country season at Kauai High, called it a good race.
“I’m super proud of myself. I almost threw up at the end,” she said, laughing. “That was really gross. Sorry if anyone saw that.”
About 450 runners took part in the 16th annual fun run, with 109 10k finishers and 85 half marathon finishers.
On a cool, sunny morning, they had to battle strong headwinds when returning on the bypass road to the finish near Anne Knudsen Park.
The half marathon course included stretches on Poipu Road and beyond to a turnaround point past The Shops at Kukuiula.
The event is a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Kauai.
Katlyn Phillips of Allen, Texas, was the overall winner of the half marathon in 1:30:35. She finished nearly 10 minutes ahead of the rest of the field, despite taking a wrong turn on the course before turning back.
She said the final uphill stretch on the bypass road, combined with a strong headwind, was a challenge.
“It was one of the toughest races I’ve ever done,” she said.
Phillips and her husband are on Kauai to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. When she heard about the Old Koloa Sugar Mill Run, she decided to sign up and use it as a training run for a marathon in a few weeks.
Winning was a nice bonus.
“It was awesome,” Phillips said.
Kauai’s Kauma Anahata won the men’s division and was third overall in 1:41:59.
As he usually runs barefoot and on the beach, and hadn’t put in many miles, he was surprised to find himself out front.
The leg cramps he feared on the humid morning never materialized.
Anahata ran smart, too. As he knew the final three miles would cause the most pain, he held back early on. It paid off, as he finished strong on the stretch that took a rough toll on many.
“I’m actually shocked that I won,” he said.
The 10k was swept by Kapaa High runners.
Garret Smith, 16, took first overall in 40:29, while Juliana Tampus, 16, led the women and was seventh overall in 47:51.
Smith said since the cross country season ended, he’s been “surfing and hanging out” the past few weeks.
He had never run the Koloa race.
“I just heard it’s a fun race so I came out,” he said.
Smith had to work more than he planned when others — including Kauai’s Joe Kali, who finished third in 40:56 — went out strong with the starting gun.
“So I had to pick up the pace,” he said.
But not too much.
“This was just kind of mellow today,” said Smith, laughing.
Tampus said she hadn’t run much lately, either, and was a bit surprised to win.
“I’m stoked,” she said.
The first few miles seemed easy. The return, not so much.
“I didn’t realize we went down so many hills on the way out, so there were a lot of hills to go up on the way back and the wind was so strong,” Tampus said.
She couldn’t call it a mellow effort.
“I’d like to say I tried my hardest,” Tampus said, also laughing.
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Bill Buley, editor-in-chief, can be reached at 245-0457 or bbuley@thegardenisland.com.
