OMAO — Jon Barretto did not just finish first in the Ultimate Hawaiian Trail Run 5k on Saturday.
He finished with style.
The Lihue man dove headfirst across the finish line, rose to his knees, looked up, closed his eyes and let out a loud yell.
Victory, and one heckuva mess, was his.
But not without a cost.
“When I thought I was almost done it was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s more hills and dips and more mud,’” he said as he recovered. “But it was fun.”
Garrick Merrell of Wailua passed him on the final set of obstacles, but Barretto rallied one last time and pulled away.
“I was able to hold it together this year and make it through all the obstacles,” Barretto said.
“He got me in the end,” Merrell said.
Merrell agreed the final obstacles were killers.
The final stretch required carrying sandbags, climbing over walls, logs, boulders and tires, crawling under netting, up and down hills of dirt and through mud bogs.
“You really don’t know how to manage your energy, you slip and fall, you don’t know how deep the mud is,” Merrell said.
Rains made the already demanding course on pristine, private Knudsen Trust land on Kahili Mountain even harder. Rocks, roots, steep climbs, sharp turns and slippery slopes awaited runners.
This was perhaps the toughest of this annual event, held to benefit the Keala Foundation.
The nonprofit offers free fitness programs and mentorship for keiki to point them toward a healthy lifestyle.
About 1,200 people registered for the fundraiser, and nearly 900 showed up at the starting line on a rainy, cloudy morning.
By the time they completed either the 5k or 10k course, everyone was weary, soaking wet and splashed with mud, but they were also laughing, smiling and celebrating.
Organizer Aaron Hoff was delighted with the turnout.
“With all this rain, it took things to a whole other level,” he said. “But seeing all these great people coming out to support the cause, it’s surreal.”
Eugene Ancheta, a lifeguard at Kealia Beach, finished third in the 5k.
Asked to describe the experience, he said, “Pretty good, muddy, rough, fun.”
Determination got him through it.
“Just trying to do it for the old folks,” he said.
A grinning Brady Edwards came in fourth in the 5k.
“Nothing can prepare you for that,” he said. “It’s hard. I’ve done a lot of trail runs and it was a lot harder.”
Tripping, stumbling and falling were all part of the experience.
“Everyone is falling up there on the mountain,” he said.
Jessica Kottmeier of Wailua took first among the women in the 5k and said she had a blast. To win, she said, was “amazing, unbelievable.”
“It was very challenging but I’ve been running up and down Sleeping Giant so I felt prepared,” she said as she and Merrell shared a hug.
Eric Hinman of Denver outlasted Kauai’s Nic Clark to win the 10k by a few seconds.
The two went back and fourth for much of the race, with Clark passing in the running sections, while Hinman regained the lead on the climbs.
“We were just playing cat and mouse the entire way,” he said after catching his breath. “It was fun.”
He called Clark an “incredible competitor” and said it took all he had to hold him off.
“I was completely spent. It was just survival at the end,” Hinman said. “I was trying to get across the finish line.”
Last year, Hinman was leading when he took a wrong turn and ended up seventh.
“This year, I didn’t get lost,” he said, smiling.
Clark, who won last year, was sent in the wrong direction Saturday, at a point when he held the lead, and he briefly went off course. Still, he said it was an awesome run.
“This is my favorite race to do with my family,” he said.
Families had fun, too.
Jamine Asuncion of Kapaa was cheering for her son, Zane, 11, as he charged the final stretch, barefoot.
He completed the Kauai half marathon two weeks ago, too.
“He loves to run,” his mom said. “He loves the challenge.”
Zane was beaming when he was done with the 5K.
He said he wanted to try the trail run “just to have fun.”
“It felt good,” he said.
Debbie Edgerton of Kalaheo was celebrating with friends near the finish line. She loved how many young people participated.
“The kids were blazing past me, they were smiling and they were barefoot,” she said. “The energy was awesome.”
