MADD Dash more fun than run
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Alecia Zulick of Waikiki was one of several hundred runners who braved the humidity yesterday afternoon to run the 16th Annual MADD Dash.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I just plug along," she said. "But I like the 5k runs and this seemed like a good cause."
About 700 runners turned out for the MADD Dash 5K fun run/walk yesterday on King Street.
Nearly 700 runners and walkers plus dozens of corporate sponsors, entertainers, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, cheerleaders, cops and ROTC cadets turned out with Zulick to support the annual fund-raiser.
The run not only raises money for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said executive director Connie Abram, it also raises awareness of the dangers of drunk driving, particularly during the holiday season.
"Which, sadly, is notorious for having a high rate of alcohol-related traffic fatalities," she said.
Abram said the run is mostly for fun, with only a few awards and a lot more prizes — all of them donated by corporate sponsors — given out.
"We just wanted people to come out today and have a good time in an alcohol-free environment," she said.
Motorcycle cops Joe Natividad and Niall Silva saddled up to ride lead escort for the run, and shortly after 3 p.m., Police Chief Lee Donohue gave the runners the go signal.
Natividad and Silva said afterward that the lead runners and wheelchair participants appeared to be tracking at about 10 mph, and sometimes faster on downhill stretches.
"Still," Natividad joked, "none of them passed us."
The top wheelchair times yesterday went to Greg Hao at 16:29 and Roger Somera at 18:27. The top men's running times went to Jonathan Lyau at 15:57, Raphael Chacon at 16:53 and A.J. Wilson at 16:59; and the top women runners yesterday were Cristal Cuadra at 17:48, Lori Zimmerman at 18:22 and Jeannie Wokasch at 18:59.
Peter Carlisle, city prosecutor, won the "MADD-gical Time" award for hitting a running speed of 5k in 29 minutes, a speed the organizers selected before the run by adding the month and day of the event.
The organizers insisted the event had not been fixed.
Nonetheless, after some good-natured goading by the crowd, Carlisle donated his restaurant coupon prizes back to the pool. He then reminded the MADD runners that he was an elected official and that they were all welcome to vote for him in the next election.
Cheryl Schwarz of Mililani won the grand prize in a drawing. She said she planned to hold on to her round trip ticket to Maui and two rounds of golf at the Maui Country Club.
Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2430.
