This Sunday, Juliette Simoes has a day planned to rival that of any runner in the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon. As runners in the 12th annual Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon are rounding Rosecrans Street onto Barnett Avenue to the finish line at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Sunday, May 31, Simoes will be just a mile away walking in Point Loma’s Portuguese Festa parade as it crosses Rosecrans from Shelter Island on its way to St. Agnes Catholic Church. Queen of the 99th annual Feast of the Holy Spirit held by the Portuguese community in Point Loma, Simoes will start her day at 5 a.m. and finish after midnight as part of the event that honors Portuguese Queen St. Isabel. The event includes a morning parade, Mass, afternoon community feast and bazaar and Queen’s Ball that ends at midnight. Simoes will be wearing 80 pounds of gown, cape and crown in honor of St. Isabel, who fed the hungry and poor from her own table. Even for a trained athlete, carrying 80 pounds for more than 12 hours is a test of endurance, if not faith. “You have so much adrenaline and excitement you ignore the pain,” said Simoes, who has, like an athlete, practiced for her role, which includes walking the mile parade route in heels, cape, gown and crown. “If you think about the pain it takes away from what you’re doing.” The parade through Point Loma begins at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 31 on Shelter Island and proceeds to St. Agnes for a Mass, where last year’s Festa queen will pass on her crown to Simoes. Afterward, a feast and bazaar open to the public will be held at the United Portuguese S.E.S. Hall, 2818 Avenida de Portugal on Shelter Island. Sopas, the traditional Portuguese meal, will be served. A donation is suggested. A 2008 graduate of Point Loma High School, where she was a member of Mothers and Daughters Clubs Assisting Philanthropies (MADCAPS), the 19-year-old Simoes is now a student at Grossmont College and works in her family-owned Postal Annex. Being queen of Point Loma’s annual Festa is “the biggest honor any Portuguese girl could get,” Simoes said. “No words can explain how I feel. It has nothing to do with popularity. It’s all about the Holy Spirit.” The legend of Queen St. Isabel is that, despite her husband’s objections, she fed the poor from her own table. When he caught Isabel leaving the house one night he demanded that she open her cape. Queen Isabel said a prayer to the Holy Spirit and opened her cape. Instead of the bread she was carrying, roses fell out. Simoes’ role as queen was made possible by her parents, Suzette and Julio, who are sponsoring this year’s Festa like they did in 1999, when their eldest daughter was queen and Juliette was little queen. Sponsoring the Festa sometimes comes down to luck. When more than one family wants to be a sponsor, names are pulled from a hat. “Whoever the Holy Spirit wants to choose is chosen,” said Simoes. At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Simoes will complete her role as queen and draw a name at random from the hat to determine next year’s sponsor — the 100th anniversary of the Feast of the Holy Spirit — San Diego’s oldest ethnic tradition. For more information about the Festa, call (619) 223-5880.