Runner's World's
Honolulu Contest Winners
- By Doug Kurtis
Free Press Columnist

"It's cold! You have to get me out of here. It's so cold that the tires on my car don't reform to their original shape when I leave it out at night", was Chad Bjugan's (Chaska, Minnesota) answer to Runner's World's Honolulu Marathon 100 word contest.   Nine other winners got an all expense paid trip with five nights at the beachfront Outrigger Reef hotel and VIP treatment courtesy of Runner's World and the Honolulu Marathon.

Two of the winners had connections to Michigan.   Valerie Kump-Dutkowski from Flushing was running to stay in shape in case her driver's license was revoked due to a retinal problem that has blurred her vision permanently. It limits her travel to familiar roads. A back injury dashed her plans to run the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City a few years ago and the contest was a way to overcome her physical ability doubts since turning 50. Unlike, most of the other winners, Dutkowski has entered and won contests since she was in grade school, including some for poetry and jingles. Runner's World must have also been impressed by her desire to give her finisher's medal to her father, a Pearl Harbor survivor. Dutkowski completed the marathon in 5 hours and 44 minutes. Her husband entered at the last minute and ran with her the entire way. Both were very sore afterward. Past Free Press Marathon winner, Greg Meyer, who gave the contest winners a pep talk at the start, reminded them,   "It's suppose to hurt, It's a marathon!"

Sr. Andrena Mulligan originally from Michigan was running her 54 th marathon. The Detroit Free Press Marathon was her first and she set a personal best of 3:38 at Port Huron. Mulligan, a Catholic nun, has been volunteering full time, caring for mentally and physically impaired homeless people at a mission on the Texas/Mexico border. She spotted the Runner's World slogan, "Win and you're in". Her brother Luke flew in from Ireland to run the race with her. They completed it in 4:24. Both were impressed by the VIP treatment they received. As Milligan put it, " Just to be around people with such positive energy has given me new energy for my mission."

Captain Mike and Betsy Wilhelm of Gettysburg, PA were planning to celebrate their 10 th anniversary in Honolulu over a year ago but their plans were cancelled when Mike was deployed in Iraq. Both had hoped to run a marathon together. She found the time to train with three young kids around the house while he worked out around the dangerous perimeter of his camp. Honolulu was the first marathon for both of them. They accidentally switched their timing chips making Mike look like the faster of the two. Betsy, who submitted her winning essay an hour before the deadline, was eventually credited with a 4:02 while Mike made it to Kapiolani Park in 4:20.

Joe Oldham was training for his hometown marathon in Akron, Ohio when he was paralyzed from Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 2003. A neurologist diagnosed the problem immediately and likely saved his life. Oldham went from a wheelchair to a walker and has now made an almost complete recovery in half the time due to running. His finish time of 3:53 might have been a bit quicker had he not run with a fake rubber butt. He did it to make people relax and laugh a little bit during the race.

Jeff Wright of Colleyville, Texas tipped the scales at 400 pounds at age 44. He was afraid he wouldn't be around to enjoy his wife and kids if he didn't change his life dramatically. Running helped reduce his weight by almost 50% in just two years. Honolulu was his first marathon and he was proud to finish in 6:44.

Dawn McGriff's son John actually wrote the winning essay to get his mother, of Bradford, PA, into the Honolulu Marathon. He gets up at 4:45 am to watch his two younger sisters while his mother heads out for a run. The trip was his way of saying, "I love You Mom", for all she has done since divorcing two years ago. Both spent quality time together at the beach and volunteering at the expo. For the McGriffs, one of the highlights of the event was the police escort provided to the contest winners to get to the start.

It was amazing that Alison Weaver made it the contest finals. She doesn't own a computer, let alone use email. Weaver was easily the fastest of the bunch. Living in Portland, Oregon proved to be a good place to train for her sixth marathon. Expecting Honolulu to be hot and hilly, she was surprised to find the course flat, fast and with reasonably warm temperatures. The result was a 3:16 personal best.

Jeffrey Field had originally planned to run his hometown marathon in Kansas City but discovered it was cancelled. Serendipitously, he received a copy of Runner's World containing the contest rules a few days later. His unique entry probably won him the trip. He submitted his essay in pictures, comic book style, to get the judge's attention. It took him four hours and fifty-one minutes to complete his first marathon, Hawaiian style.

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