Honolulu Marathon
- By Doug Kurtis
Free Press Columnist

Near perfect weather greeted the Honolulu Marathon runners this year which resulted in record times for both the men and women. As fireworks blasted off the runners during the 5 am start, warm winds changed to cool calm.   Three past winners returned to the winner's podium.

Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon hand cyclist winner Krige Schabort returned to the wheelchair to capture his seventh straight Honolulu Marathon victory. Just a few days earlier the articulate Mr. Schabort was a big hit among many renowned guests as the sole inductee into this year's Honolulu Marathon Association Hall of Fame.

This year was supposed to be the rubber match between three time champions Mbarak Hussein and Jimmy Muindi. No male has ever won the marathon four times. Muindi proved to be the class of the field. At mile nineteen he left a pack of five runners and took the risk of going all alone to chase the course record rather than just a victory. He was not to be denied. His early patience resulted in a time of 2:11:12 which broke both the course and event records. The previous mark of 2:11:43 was set by Hussein's older brother, Ibraham in 1986.

On the women's side, Russia's Lyubov Morgunova missed last year's race while recovering from a car accident. After winning in 2000 and '01 she had her work cut out for her with Japan's defending champ Eri Hayakawa returning.   Unfortunately, Hayakawa took at hard spill going after water at an aid station early in the race. She valiantly hung on for second place while Morgunova took advantage of the great weather to break the course and event records with a time of 2:27:33.

Both champions earned the biggest Honolulu Marathon paydays ever. Including time incentives, Muindi took home $40,000 and Morgunova $42,000 for their efforts.

As in past years, the Kenyan's dominated the front of the pack while the Japanese dominated the rest of the field of 22,388 finishers. The planes of title sponsor Japan Air Lines must have been packed to the gills bringing in almost sixty percent of the runners, many of whom were first timers.   Honolulu should be considered Japan's biggest marathon.   Mainlanders, Canadians, Germans and Koreans round out the top five of more than forty countries that bring in over 100 million dollars to the Island's economy in an otherwise slow period of the year.

Many choose the Honolulu Marathon because it's considered a "People's Race".   It takes care of every runner and walker for more than ten hours. The beauty of the Island, ideal climate, great shopping and almost immediate access to the start and finish lines from the Waikiki hotels are major factors in producing one of the largest fields in the world.

This year an additional 188 marathoners ran the event from a different location. U.S. Soldiers and civilian contractors stationed in Afghanistan completed the race while running a 5.24 mile looped course of rock and gravel located in an air base near Tarin Kowt, the so-called cradle of the Taliban. Capt. Ivan Hurlburt and several other Honolulu Marathon veterans worked with HMA officials so that every runner received the same official number, finisher t-shirt, medal, signature shell lei and certificate given to those that completed the event in Honolulu.

Contact Doug Kurtis at Detroit Free Press, 600 W. Fort St. Detroit, 48226