ISLE PROFILE
'Volunteer queen' set for 13th Tinman event
By Katherine Nichols
Special to The Advertiser
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| Joan Davis, 63, stands next to a statue at Kapi'olani Park where she has the volunteers meet the morning of the Tinman Triathlon.
Katherine Nichols • Special to The Advertiser WHAT: 24th annual Tinman Triathlon WHEN: 5:30 a.m. Sunday (check in begins at 4 a.m.) COURSE: 750-meter swim (waters off Queen's Beach, Waikiki); 38-kilometer bike (Kalakaua Avenue to Hawai'i Kai and back); 10-kilometer run (Kalakaua, around Diamond Head and back) INFORMATION: 595-5317 or 596-0588 |
Others call her the "godmother," she chuckles, because she's always making offers people can't refuse — the chance to help others by passing out water or racking bikes in a triathlon transition area.
The 63-year-old has volunteered at the Tinman Triathlon every July for the past 12 years. This year's race on Sunday features a new course, and Davis will once again take charge of the transition area and the run leg, gathering about 80 fellow volunteers to help smoothly execute what could easily deteriorate into a logistical nightmare.
This involves working the phones, attending meetings and sending e-mails to ask for help.
"Once they come out and do it for us ... the usual suspects return to do it," Davis said.
Volunteers enjoy the camaraderie and the good feelings that come with helping others, as does Davis.
"I like seeing the finishing... having the event come out and everybody having enjoyed themselves, whether they're participants or volunteers," she said.
But it does take a certain commitment.
"It still involves getting up at 4:30 in the morning and being there for four hours working at community service," Davis said.
The retired airport operations employee has spent about 40 hours each week volunteering for various running and triathlon events for 14 years.
At risk for liver cancer and diabetes 15 years ago, Davis' doctors ordered her to lose 75 pounds, which she did six months after she started running.
"Once I put on that pair of shoes, that was my weight maintenance," she said.
In addition to 5- and 10-kilometer running races, Davis discovered that she loved running marathons. She completed nine of them until four years ago, when she suffered a foot injury on a city bus and remained in a cast for eight weeks. Since then, she admits that she has struggled with her discipline and determination for competition — but not for volunteering.
Tinman Unlimited recruited her in 1990.
"She herself is always, always willing to help. And not just us, but many other events," said Olga Caldwell, an architect and designer who has led the Tinman race committee for 22 years. Davis attends meetings, assembles packets, deals with race numbers, offers suggestions. Whatever needs to be done, Davis "knows what her job is," Caldwell said.
Davis, who has worked with the Great Aloha Run, Aloha State Games and Hawai'i Senior Olympics for years, has ambitions beyond Hawai'i.
"My ultimate goal is to be a paid staff member for one of the Olympics, possibly Beijing," she said.
New Date, course
The Tinman Triathlon is held a week later this year and features a course change.
The second weekend in July, when the race typically takes place, is when jellyfish swarm Ala Moana Beach Park. So it was postponed a week. More than 300 people were stung last weekend.
The Cancer Society's Relay for Life also is Sunday at Ala Moana Beach Park, which prompted the move of the swim portion to Queen's Beach.
Brunch on the Beach in Waikiki is also scheduled for Sunday and Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues are clogged with construction.
The course change, however, might work out for the better.
The committee looked to the success of the Na Wahine Triathlon, and decided to stage both transitions in the same area at Kapi'olani Park.
In previous years, the Tinman organization had to transport the competitors' running gear from Ala Moana Beach to Kapi'olani Park, where competitors finished the bike ride and transitioned to the run.
With the transition at one place, Tinman Unlimited, which last year hired 97 police officers at a cost of $16,000 to monitor the bike and run courses, was able to lower the entry fee from $80 last year to $75 this year.
Also, the 750-meter swim will be sheltered in the lagoon off Queen's Beach, and Tinman Unlimited will hire professional water safety personnel.
However, Caldwell said that anyone who does not feel comfortable with the altered swim course can receive a full refund.
"People think of it as open water, but it's not," she said. "Safety is always our worry."
Volunteer help
Volunteers are still needed for various positions for the Tinman Triathlon on Sunday.
The race needs run-course marshals and bike- and run- transition corralers on race day. Volunteers are wanted for setup on Saturday and breakdown after the race.
For information, call Joan Davis at 955-0902 or Faye Saiki at 596-0588.
