Sean “Peaman” Pagett: Founder of Frozen Pea Productions
By Hadley Catalano
Go ahead and call Sean “Peaman” Pagett’s home phone and listen to the message. Don’t worry, he won’t mind. He doesn’t answer it. After a couple rings the answering machine (updated every 24 hours) picks up and Peaman’s gentle, methodical voice is heard, reading the day’s message.
The first time I called the Kailua-Kona triathlete—best known for his off-the-wall named sporting events and his contagious heart-warming spirit—I reached his voicemail. His answering machine informed me that the upcoming Sunday at 8:03am was his Pedal Till Ya Puke and Run Till Ya Ralph + The Papa Pea Pedal or Plod + Mad Dog Mile Kaloko Road race and that it was national Watermelon Day and Twins Day.
Peaman can recall a million and one stories behind his nickname and credits Gene “Turtle” Powers as first referring to him as the “Pea Guy,” which morphed into his present identity. His physical condition limited us to phone conversation, a more comfortable pace for Peaman, who struggles daily with chronic pain and fatigue from severe pituitary gland damage and fibromyalgia. So until the moment when we could speak at length, I listened for voicemails left on my phone in regards to health updates and I would leave inquires on his machine following a narration of facts like, “Thursday, June 20th is National Vanilla Milkshake Day and American Eagle Day.”
His brightening effect on even the most tiresome answering system is just a small example of what Peaman signifies. His infectious personality and persistent courage are what have connected countless Hawai‘i Island residents and international visitors to his annual multisport races and resulted in regular interviews from newspapers, websites, and students.
It was during such an interview at Hualalai Academy in Kailua-Kona that I first made an acquaintance with Peaman. He was surrounded by a group of middle school students who had contacted him with the interest of filming an on-camera interview for a class assignment. Seated outside on a metal school chair on the grassy lawn with neatly trimmed hibiscus bushes as a backdrop, Peaman waited patiently while the three preteens adjusted the camera and fretted over the angle of the tripod. He listened intently as they asked difficult emotional questions, and he gave poignant heartfelt answers—responses he’s been giving since childhood.
Watching Peaman share his story with the children was inspirational. Later when I approached Peaman with my own request to interview him, the Kailua-Kona sports icon was unquestioningly ready to share his life’s story again. To him, this is just who he is. To me, this was something more than just another interview. Here was a man who despite his pain and discomfort was granting the public access to his mortality.
The very nature of his existence was altered at the age of nine on a trip back to his birthplace of Manhattan Beach, California. He moved to Hawai‘i Island in 1969 at five years old with his family and grew up surfing, playing outside, and taking advantage of his natural surroundings. His mother, Joan, owned Butterfly Boutique, located across from the pier in Kailua-Kona, and his father, Bill, worked as a carpenter. On an extended holiday break from school, Joan took her two sons back to Manhattan Beach on a buying trip for the shop and to visit family. After dinner one night at Hibachi, a restaurant close to the coast, the young family was walking down Manhattan Ave, and while crossing the street, Peaman heard the sound of burning rubber against the pavement and saw a Corvette barreling down the road toward them.
“My brother thought quickly and darted across the street,” Peaman said as he recalled the accident with the drunk driver. “My mom and I hesitated and were hit by the car. I physically flew across the street and landed on the curb and my mother was killed instantly.”
During the moments after being hit, he reflected on a sensation that he described as his spirit going towards heaven, of memories and emotions quickly flashing before his eyes, a moment, he said, of pure love.
“There was a tunnel of bright light. It was comforting. I didn’t feel fear or sadness. It was all blissfully perfect. I was feeling [my mother’s] spirit telling me it was okay, but it wasn’t my time yet,” he said, adding that’s when he first felt a separation from her, his spirit moving quickly back into his body. “At that point it wasn’t happy or sad—it just was.”
As Peaman’s spirit returned to his body, he felt a blast—a shockingly hyper-vigilant blast—of reentering and suddenly, “I could hear everything—the sand between my feet and the concrete, the vibrations of the world. It wasn’t scary or traumatic because of the experience the Lord had just given me. He allowed me to get a glimpse of heaven and it was a comforting feeling, everything was okay. What happened to us, happened for us.”
Peaman carried a sense of reason and purpose with him for the next three years as he underwent numerous surgeries; bone grafts; casts to repair many broken bones, among them a shattered leg. He was 12 years old when the last cast came off his leg and he was ready to run.
“Track and field, baseball, football, I wanted to do everything. I loved sports. I wanted a normal life again,” he recalled of his commitment to athletics. By his 17th birthday he had noticed a decrease in his energy levels and pain and stiffness in his joints and muscles. After many visits to the doctor it was confirmed that Peaman had developed osteoporosis cause by damage and malfunction of his pituitary gland. The Konawaena High School athlete’s body did not produce enough hormones to maintain his muscle mass, causing the scrawny teenager to remain frail and underweight. Then, during his senior year, Peaman broke his femur, and the previously damaged pituitary gland further deteriorated his body resulting in constant muscle and connective tissue pain.
“My joints hurt; my elbows, knees, wrists and ankles hurt. My weight would fluctuate. I would lose a lot and had nerve damage, bringing about a massive list of diagnoses,” he said. He noted that it wasn’t until 2002 when he was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona with his weight hovering around 80 pounds that the severity of the chemical imbalance from the pituitary gland damaged was revealed. The diagnoses were: hypothyroidism, hypoadrenalism, and gastromobility, causing numerous subsequent conditions such as low body temperature, chronic pain and fatigue, a thinning of the skin, occipital neuralgia, cognitive abnormalities, migraines, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and diabetes insipidus.
Following high school, the young athlete pursued his love of sports by working at a local Kona surf shop, competing regularly in island biathlon and road races, writing a weekly column called “Multi-Sport Mania” for West Hawaii Today (which appeared every Friday in the paper for more than 20 years), and completing four Kona Ironman Championships (starting at age 18, competing in four with his father).
Today, Peaman’s daily life is a constant balance of sleep, exercise, and a moderate diet, and while exercise is truly the best remedy to help combat his pain, it is only second to volunteering at the Peaman events.
“I choose to celebrate each day. I just thank the Lord I am here. I’m the lucky one. When your life is altered at a young age, you learn to appreciate things,” Peaman explained. “Sure I get sad and the pain is unbearable at times, but life is such a miracle…it doesn’t change my inner strength. There can be 10 things going wrong, but 10 million going right.”
Peaman’s father, “Papa Pea” or “Pops” Pagett credits his son’s spirit to an incredible inner strength.
“He’s always been that way, he’s always been so positive. I couldn’t have asked for a better kid,” Papa Pea said of his youngest, whom he thanks for helping him recover after suffering from his own demons years after the accident. “I was going downhill and Sean bought me a bike, taught me about nutrition. He keeps me going. He saved my life.”
His most influential contribution to the Hawai‘i Island athletic community, however, began in 1987 when he held his first Peaman Event. Over the last 26 years, the Kailua-Kona sports fan has hosted more than 340 races, 13 annual biathlons, and has participated in every one.
“Someone has to finish last,” he laughed, and despite the fact he may be using a crutch or just had surgery, Peaman participates in some aspect of each race—even if it’s walking just a couple miles.
The monthly races, sponsored by Frozen Pea Productions (FPP), Peaman’s self-proclaimed “negative profit” volunteer organization, are free and designed with families in mind.
“There were not many activities for children to participate in that didn’t cost money,” Peaman explained about the purpose of beginning the races in the late 80s. “I thought it would be good to have a free event for the whole family that was different from the usual 5k races.”
So, taking a lighthearted approach to racing and biathlons, and blessing it with a silly name, Peaman began a Kona tradition. Each month, runners, swimmers, and walkers look forward to the FPP lineup of events, like the Peaman Kickoff Klassic Biathlon, September’s celebratory race of the football season where participants are asked to wear their favorite football team’s colors or logo for the 3/4 mile swim/3.9 mile run/walk. Every race is open for men (individual pea), women (chickpeas), keiki (peawees), or relay (split-pea) in any division or “pod” of choice, including family relays, K-9, or corporate relays. The FPP races are always free, participants are always fed, prizes are drawn from a hat, and Peaman gives out toys to the children that enter. Peaman always offers transient, or in his words, “outdoor folks,” volunteer positions so they too can enjoy the post-race feast.
While the events take a toll on Peaman’s health, he attributes his resilient spirit to his father who raised him to be independent and strong. The patriarch, now well into his 70s, attributes the events to his son’s happiness.
“Mr. Sean works very hard, these events are keeping him alive,” said Papa Pea, who participates with his son in every event and looks forward to doing the 700th biathlon with his ‘Pea’. I pray for him every day. I love him dearly.”
Equally as devoted, Peaman’s biggest fan is his wife, Linda Jane “Mouse” Kelley, who has been by his side for the last 23 years providing support and love along with her two sons Sparky and Bucky.
“Sean is the kid who brings balls, bats, and extra sports equipment to the play field or beach because he wants to be ready for anything and wants everyone to have the opportunity to play,” said Linda of her husband, who continues to put on events (with a group of volunteers) despite his fragile health and limited energy. “We used to joke that he put on the Peaman events because he didn’t like to play alone, however there actually is a lot of truth rooted in that. He even had a shirt that read ‘Plays Well With Others.’ That really sums up a lot about him. He just wants everyone to have fun and for himself to be included. This is how all of the silly divisions were created. He did not want to exclude anyone, no matter his or her limitations or imagination. It is Sean’s determination to make sure everyone has fun that makes the Peaman events so infectious.”
Close friends Doug Henbest, Jay Plasman, Chris Green, and the staff at Big Island Honda (who help sponsor the events) have rallied behind Peaman’s contagious enthusiasm. The energy they have devoted to FPP biathlons over the years have established the races as what Peaman refers to has “true community events.”
Hawai‘i Island has honored Peaman’s dedication to the community. He was inducted into the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame, because, he joked, “Everyone thought I was going to kick the bucket.” He has also received an award from the Hawai‘i State Department of Health and was the first person to receive the Ironman Malama Award, presented by event director Diana Bertsch in 2003. The honor, which is bestowed on individuals who give of themselves so that others might benefit from their support and care, was presented to the dedicated Ironman participant and volunteer for his “iron heart” and embodiment of the aloha spirit.
Peaman’s aloha runs the gamut. It has reached a walker who needed companionship during a race, it was heard by seniors of Konawaena High who listened to his speech on graduation day, it has been shared by friends and fellow residents of the Hualalai Regency (where Peaman now lives), and of course, it has touched the many hearts of strangers he encounters every day.
“I met Peaman at The Club in Kona,” said one of Peaman’s best friends, Debbie Raiter. “He’s charitable, wonderful, so humble; he’s the most enlightened person I know. He’ll shift the way you look at life. He is 100 percent in the moment. What takes some people a lifetime to figure out, he has: be in the now.”
Life is a blessing to Peaman. He lives for the authenticity of the moment. And that moment might just be National Peaches and Cream Day or Take Your Dog to Work Day. So go ahead and enjoy today’s moment on Peaman’s answering machine—it will be medicine for the soul. ❖
For more information on Peaman Races: BigIslandRaces.com/extras/Peaman-Events
Contact Sean “Peaman” Pagett: 808.938.2296
Contact writer Hadley Catalano: hadleycatalano@gmail.com
Upcoming Peaman Events
- Post Pigout Peamania (last Sunday of November). This swim/run/swim/run four-segment event, which takes place appropriately after Thanksgiving, will be two loops on the 1⁄4-mile swim and 2-mile run/walk course. The pea-wee race will also cover two loops. Doing one loop or mixing the long course and pea-wee course is also ok.
- In celebration of Peaman’s 50th Birthday: Peaman’s Birthday Bonanza (last Sunday of December) will wrap up the 2013 Frozen Pea Production race schedule. Western-themed attire is encouraged and a bandana or sheriff’s badge never slowed anyone down in this 1⁄2-mile swim and 3.9-mile run/walk race.
