The designs were as diverse as they were inventive. Sacred Hearts Academy's rocket-shaped racer, inspired by the Blackbird SR-71 long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft, differed dramatically from Damien Memorial School's spare-parts special "MathCar," made of everything from bed frames to broken chairs.

A crowd favorite was Le Jardin Academy's first-ever entry — the "Bamboo Car," a primitive wedge-shaped affair made of bamboo and plywood, and looking like the sort of thing Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble would be proud to own.

Fans from each school screamed wildly as their team's car passed by the grandstand. But as the race progressed, more and more cars hobbled into the pits with problems ranging from broken chains to loose battery cables and overheated motors.

Castle High School's crew works on repairing a flat tire, which cost them the lead. Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser

At the midway point, Castle's No. 51 was two laps up on the nearest competitor and looked unstoppable.

By contrast, Waialua's equally sleek red, white and black No. 11, a chain-driven racer, could have won the prize for quietest in the competition as it zipped about the oval like a gust of wind.

Clearly, this team knew what it was doing. As the minutes passed in the second half of the race, the lead began to shift toward Waialua.

Waialua High & Intermediate's winning entry, a chain-driven racer, was quiet and effective. Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser

Meanwhile, Waialua's No. 11 continued to tool along at full throttle, moving farther into the lead. On the last second of the race, Castle rumbled across the finish line fighting a flat left rear tire.

By that time, Waialua had already won, beating its nearest rival — Kapolei High School — by four laps. Castle ended up in the middle of the pack.

The race was the culminating and most exciting component of a four-part competition in which students from 27 schools statewide spent months preparing. The teams were judged on vehicle performance (the race itself), construction and safety, written documentation and an oral presentation on the construction process.

Le Jardin Academy made its first entry into the Hawaiian Electric Electron Marathon competition with the "Bamboo Car," made from bamboo and plywood. It proved to be the crowd's favorite. Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser

The idea of the program is to give the students practical use of various applied academics, including math, science, writing and presentation skills.

The endurance race combined a number of strategies, of which speed was only a part. The winning vehicle was not the first across the finish line, but the car that completed the most laps in the one-hour time limit using a total of two batteries.

Waialua Intermediate and High School not only won the race but took top honors as well, winning the Best of Show award.

Waialua senior Joseph Gudoy, 17, who split the driving duties with senior Ryan Bruno, 18, said things came off pretty much as planned.

"We knew from the beginning and from all our testing that our car would last one hour or more," said Gudoy, who finished the race. "So Ryan and I just did our thing and drive."

"When you're driving, you don't even know if you're in the lead," Bruno said. "You just keep going."