Mayor-A-Thon 2017

By Tommy Noyes

Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. gets a workout chauffeuring his grandchildren during the Mayor-A-Thon. Pre-register for this year’s event at www.GetFitKauai.com and be present to win fabulous prizes.

On Saturday morning, June 24 a whole lot of bicyclists, runners, walkers and strollers will join Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. and friends at the Kapa‘a Beach Park for the ninth annual Mayor-A-Thon.

Mayor Carvalho sums it up, “It’s a fun, family-oriented event that takes place on our beautiful coastal path! I encourage residents and visitors from across the island to join us.”

Get Fit Kaua‘i and the County of Kaua‘i coordinate this free event to encourage physical health and fitness among island residents, and to celebrate Kaua‘i’s inspiring multi-use path, Ke Ala Hele Makalae.

“The Mayor-A-Thon is an annual event — it’s a community event — it’s free, and it’s actually to celebrate a place on the island where we can walk safely, bike safely and support physical activity in a safe environment,” said Bev Brody, Get Fit Kaua‘i’s island coordinator. “We have had hundreds of people come out every year, and they use this path that we are continuing to build.”

Early online registration at www.GetFitKauai.com is recommended for two very good reasons. First, starting at 6:30 a.m. on the day of the event, volunteers will begin passing out T- shirts and GEICO water bottles to the first 500 pre-registered participants. Second, during the event, only the pre-registered participants will be eligible to win more than $10,000 in prizes.

Participants are asked to donate nutritious non-perishable food items at the Healthy Food Drive tent. The proceeds will be donated to The Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and The Hawai‘i Food Bank — Kaua‘i Branch.

At 7 a.m., the festivities will kick in with a brief welcome and fun warm-up to get your blood pumping.

The actual walk, bike, run, fast-walk, stroll or jog event starts by “loading the path” at 7:15 a.m. Everyone will be heading north on Ke Ala Hele Makalae, and round-trip distances for 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 miles will be indicated. Well-behaved, leashed dogs are welcome.

One of the main challenges with a popular event like this impressing on the participants that they need to share the path. All morning, lots of people will be moving both ways on a relatively narrow path. Please respect other users and share the path by traveling on the right side of the path. Give others room to pass on your left. This means you’ll need to walk or bike in front of or behind some of your friends as you chat, instead of taking up the whole width of path by walking or riding three or four abreast.

Tommy Noyes

HMSA is sponsoring the breakfast from Mark’s Place, which will be served from 8 to 10 a.m. During that period, participants can enjoy the dancing, games, prizes, Zumba and many more entertainments. You must have pre-registered online and be present to win any of the prizes in the drawings, including the grand prize — a two night stay at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort.

Pre-registration and event details are online at www.GetFitKauai.com or call Bev Brody at (808) 212-4765 for more information.

• Tommy Noyes is Kaua‘i Path’s executive director, a League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructor and active with the Kaua‘i Medical Reserve Corps.