MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii --
Overall race and Men's category winner Jason Kut with a time of 18:51, and Overall Women's category winner Sherry Laniosz, 19:36, took top honors in the 5th annual 5K Surf & Turf competition held here Saturday.
They led the 157 participants, a record number for this event, through two-miles of Kaneohe Klipper golf course real-estate and down a one-mile stretch of North Shore sand before finishing back in front of the Bachelor Officer's Quarters.
In it's fifth year, the race has become more popular than ever, according to Stacy Barkdull, Varsity Sports Coordinator, Marine Corps Community Services.
"We had a hundred more people sign-up for the event than last year, " said Barkdull. "This is because we distributed more information about the event this year to every base on the island and to all the running shops we could. We had about fifty percent military and fifty percent civilians show up."
The runners were each assigned to one of ten different categories depending on their sex and age. The first place winners in each category received medals for their efforts, and the first three runners overall to finish the race were given plaques.
Second place in the Overall Men's category went to Timothy Noonan with 19:36 and Aubrey Curtis took home third with 19:57.
Stefy Matsumura came in second in the Overall Women's with a time of 24:11.
This race is designed for runners of all skill levels to participate, according to Barkdull, but the race definitely saw its share of running enthusiasts.
"We have a lot of competitive runners come out who use the times from our races to improve their running resumes, " said Barkdull.
The race has something to offer to both civilians and military she said. Civilians get a chance to come onto our base and see our community in action, while military members can come out in units and improve their physical fitness scores.
Chris Young, Inbound Personnel Administration Center, Headquarters Battalion, came out with nine other members from his unit, calling themselves the "Admin Assassins," to run the race and build camaraderie.
"Running as a unit brings morale up in the office," said Young. "We push each other in races like this to become better team players. Other Marines in the office see us do things like this together , and that makes them want to get involved. It's great when we have everybody come out and support each other."
A race like this brings out all the different people who like running, said Mark Jackson, a civilian visiting the base from the mainland, after running his second consecutive Surf & Turf.
"It's interesting seeing all the people who like to run - from the super athlete to the not-so-super athlete."
Marine Corps Community Services and Headquarters' Battalion both played a huge role in organizing the event, according to Barkdull.
Barkdull said that Headquarters Battatlion played an important role in assisting MCCS in organizing the race.
The Battalion's Marines and Sailors were seen playing roles for the event. In fact, the Headquarters Battalion Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. James Connelly, was amongst those who also participated in the event.
Connelly said he appreciated the diversity of the runners he saw Saturday.
"We got a nice combination of runners between the neighboring community and our Marines," he said.