KOHALA COAST — One of the most challenging races on the Big Island returned Saturday on the Fairmont Orchid property.

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KOHALA COAST — One of the most challenging races on the Big Island returned Saturday on the Fairmont Orchid property.

The Ironman 70.3 Hawaii — also famously known as the “Honu” — welcomed over 1,000 triathletes to the iconic Kohala Coast for the half triathlon, where competitors aged from 18 to 84 took on a demanding course in West Hawaii heat, tropical scenery and a chance to qualify for the 2026 Ironman World Championship — which will be held this October in Kona town.

Racers began their day swimming 1.2 miles through the turquoise Pauoa Bay waters just off the grounds of the Fairmont Orchid, then transitioned to a 56-mile bike ride through the rolling hills of south Kohala before completing the journey with a 13.1-mile jog through the iconic Mauna Lani Golf Course and stark lava fields. Athletes crossed the finish line at the scenic oceanfront of the Fairmont Orchid.

Eighteen-year-old speedster Thomas Newsom of New Zealand broke through in the running portion of the race and burst past runner-up Hippolyte Colin (25-29 division) of France in the final leg to be named the outright race winner — crossing the finish line in four hours, 11 minutes and 52 seconds, which beat 2025 champion Zachary Levet’s time by nearly seven minutes.

Newsom began the day by swimming in 28 minutes, 48 seconds, but was only in 17th place by the time he stepped out of the water. He closed the gap in the bike ride, racing the eighth-fastest time of the men in just over two hours, 20 minutes. He took the lead over Colin — who dominated the bike race — by running the final 13.1 miles in one hour, 17 minutes, 27 seconds. Newsom had a blistering pace of five minutes, 55 seconds per mile.

Colin’s official finish time was at the 4:15:50 mark.

Going into the race, Newsom wasn’t sure what to expect — especially since he was still recovering from an achilles injury. Bumps and bruises aside, the young racer put his will to the test and pushed himself to the brink on the final leg.

“I didn’t have the greatest lead into the race with injury impacting my training over the last two months,” Newsom told the paper postrace. “Off the bike, I was 11 minutes down off the lead which seemed like an impossible gap to break, considering I hadn’t done much intense running over the last few months.

“Somehow, I managed to get the win.”

The win was extra special for Newsom, as his father — John Newsom — won the 2017 race. Fittingly, Thomas Newsom beat his father’s winning time by nearly 12 minutes.

John Newsom also raced this past weekend, placing in the top 20 with a time of 4:37:42.

“This race has been on my bucket list ever since my dad (won here),” Thomas Newsom explained. “He has been coming to Hawaii almost every year since this race started and attended a few world championships, leaving me in the freezing cold winters of Christchurch (New Zealand), so naturally, I was attracted to the Big Island.”

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Newsom also thanked the hundreds of volunteers on duty throughout the course, noting that they helped make his race-day experience much smoother.

”Everyone was extremely friendly — all of the people on the course and all of the helpers and volunteers. They made my race day that much better and a massive thank you to all of them.”

Finishing third in the men’s division was Belgium’s Tom De Bruyn of the 40-44 age group, crossing the finish line in four hours, 17 minutes, five seconds. He got off to a slower start with the swim, but jolted to the front of the pack after finishing the bike leg in just over two hours, 12 minutes.

Top American finisher Ryan Giulano (40-44) placed fourth in the men’s, crossing the line in four hours, 17 minutes, 43 seconds. His strongest leg of the race was in the half marathon, where he ran in one hour, 21 minutes, two seconds. Kamehameha-Hawaii graduate Davis Kaahanui (30-34) finished fifth with a time of four hours, 18 minutes, 33 seconds. Like many others, Kaahanui’s best portion of the day was in the run, finishing in 1:24:31.

Saturday marked Kaahanui’s third straight top-five finish in the Honu, as he placed as high as second overall in 2024.

Winning the women’s division was Victoria Feng (25-29) of the San Francisco Bay Area, crossing the finish line at the 4:47:18 mark. Feng is a member of the prestigious Olympic Club Triathlon Team, a globally-recognized racing squad based in her hometown.

Feng’s strong start gave her enough leeway at the end of the race, as she raced the fastest women’s swim (27:15) and bike (2:31:18). She finished the 13.1-mile run through the lava fields in just over one hour, 41 minutes. Feng beat second-place finisher Emily Reynolds (35-39) of the U.S. by over 10 minutes (4:57:46). Reynolds raced the second-fastest half marathon among the women (1:36:51).

“I came to the island with a bunch of my teammates and it was so fun to race with them and see them all over the course,” Feng said. “I love training and racing here; it’s such a beautiful and happy place, and I feel so lucky to get to race here.”

Clinching bronze in the women’s field was Jacqui Giuliano of the U.S., finishing in five hours, eight minutes, six seconds. Her strongest leg of the race came in in the run, where she catapulted to a podium finish after racing in 1:31:32.

Rounding out the top five in the women were Kayla Kielar (5:10:04) of the U.S. and Melanie Mantha of Canada (5:10:31) — both of whom were in the 40-44 division. Kielar raced the eighth-fastest women’s time in the bike (2:44:57) and run (1:42:20), while Mantha had the second-fastest women’s bike ride in two hours, 40 minutes, 31 seconds.

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See today’s Scoreboard for more results.