(Gaylia Osterlund profiles some of the women’s qualifiers from Honu)

Each year, toward the end of May or beginning of June, athletes flock to the Big Island to compete at Rhoto Ironman Hawaii 70.3, which takes place on the back half of the world championship course.

The field seems to be divided into three groups: those trying to qualify, those already qualified and looking for the chance to practice on a portion of the Ironman course, and those who were looking for a spectacular destination to vacation and race.

Leading into this year’s event, Katie Araujo (W18-24) came down with bronchitis and was unable to train for 14 days. Given race day was her birthday, and the trip was already paid for, Katie decided to go to Hawaii and play it by ear.

On the advice of her coach, she decided her plan would be to start but to “approach the race as a catered training day and just embrace the challenge ahead.”

The end result netted a 5:25:24 for second place, a roll down spot to Kona and entry into the Marine Corps Ironman World Championship 70.3.

Araujo consistently has a solid bike split in most of her races, but she struggles to follow-up with a strong run. She is fairly new to the sport, so my hope is she will be doing some focused transition training to boost her bike/run combination.

Kayla Kielar (5:08:32) talked her boyfriend into doing the race so they had an excuse to go to Hawaii. The 28-year-old never expected a slot to Kona.

After completing her day in what appears to be a personal best time at this distance, she had some food and a massage and then made her way back to the finish to cheer for her partner. Once he was recovered, they wandered over to check the results and saw she had won her division.

Kielar is another gal who is a strong cyclist and with each race her run has been improving. In looking at her competitive history, it would seem she performs better at the Ironman distance, so there is a good chance she will be with the top girls early in the marathon in October.

This would be the fourth time Hawaii’s Nalani Kaun (W30-34) has competed in the Hawaii 70.3 event, but the first time she was able to punch her ticket to Kona. She is an athlete who is strong and consistent in all three sports at most of her races.

On this particular day, her dad and husband kept her smiling and motivated with random appearances on the course playing bagpipes and taking photos. Her time of 4:59:16 was 15 minutes faster than last year.

Sheila Croft (4:43:09) and Nell Stephenson (4:48:43) were within minutes of each other all day long. Ultimately, Croft’s 1:32:29 marathon earned her the win for the women 35-39. Although Stephenson was second on this particular day, my research shows she has much more experience than Croft at going 140.6 miles, giving her a bit of an edge on Oct. 8.

At the 2010 Ironman World Championship, Susanne Davis (W40-44) was the top overall American amateur and was awarded the title of the “fastest mom in the world.”

Coming into this race, her main focus was to grab a qualifying spot so she would have the chance to take down the amateur world record. After receiving a drafting penalty just shy of Hawi, Davis was sure all hopes of Kona were gone. She credits her husband with helping her to refocus.

She did just that and won her division by 11 minutes in a time of 4:44:00. More than the time on the clock, Davis hopes to inspire many women who want to hit personal best times at any stage in life.

I have watched Kathy Winkler (W45-49) race for many years and, simply put, she is a gifted athlete even when she is not at her best. She is just that focused and tough.

Winkler’s original goal for this year did not include Ironman, but her fiancé encouraged her to go for it so they could race together on the famed course the second Saturday in October.

With just weeks to go, Winkler was experiencing extreme fatigue and found out she was anemic. The doctors told her it would be months before she would feel better. Motivated by not wanting to give up on her “best boy’s dream” she dug deep and clocked a 4:55:11 for the win.

Alison Simmons (W50-54) is most excited about her fourth trip to the “big dance” because she will share the stage with her brother, who also happens to be racing number four as well.

This year Simmons, a Hawaii resident, knew she would have to win her division since the Hawaii state slot allocation has been eliminated. She left T2 nearly eight minutes behind Cary Craig (5:40:41), but managed to out kick her on the half-marathon, finishing in 5:37:05.

Family weddings and the birth of her second grandchild are just a few of the celebrations that have been a part of Laurelee Welder’s (W55-59) road to Kona. Given her family has been a part of every event since she first qualified back in 2006, this year really hasn’t been much different. Welder came in second to Laura Sophiea (5:09:32), the 2010 age-group champion, so the slot rolled to her.

Cullen Goodyear (6:02:28) was out front of the women 65-69 from the start of the day. After struggling through the chaos of the mass swim start, Goodyear used her experience in the lava fields to extend her lead, coming in 45-minutes ahead of Julie Corman (6:47:05).

(Contact Gaylia Osterlund at gaylialynn@ironman.com)