Hawaii
Tom Knoll, 69, finishes his
150th marathon in 5:46THOUSANDS of Japanese nationals here to run in the Honolulu Marathon are spending lots of spare cash this week, or so Isle merchants are hoping. Many of all nationalities who ran in the grueling marathon are probably still hurting today, but a couple of people are feeling pretty good about themselves. It was the 150th marathon for Tom Knoll, pretty remarkable but more understandable when you learn he was one of the original crazies who started the Ironman Triathlon on the Big Isle many years ago. Knoll took 5:46 to polish off No. 150, but not bad for a 69-year-old. It was the first (but surely not last) marathon for Penny Bradley of Coldwell Banker. A reformed smoker who used to jog around Diamond Head and then reward herself with a cigarette, Bradley, now the picture of health, has long played polo, but never allowed her horses to smoke. "I used to run around with a pack of cigarettes in my pocket," muses Bradley. "Now I run with a pack of GU." For the uninitiated, GU is an energy gel containing maltrodextrin, essential amino acids, performance enhancing herbs, muscle buffers and antioxidants ...
THE first-place woman to finish the Marathon was Lyubov Morgunova, who also won last year with the race's fastest time ever, 2:28:33. Even before this year's race, Morgunova told Perry & Price at their Hanohano Room show on KSSK that the reason for her fast time last year was because every time she tried to call her husband in Russia for pre-race support, the line was busy, so she ran out of anger. Things appear to have warmed up only a bit, as she was a minute and a half slower than last year ...
Nutcrackers
PICK your "Nutcracker"! There's Hawaii Dance Theater's "King Kalakaua's Nutcracker Ballet," featuring the King and Princess Kaiulani characters. It's at the Hawaii Theater Friday and Saturday. At least it's different from the traditional ... At Leeward Community College, their "Nutcracker" offers the first 50 kids attending Saturday's performance the opportunity to have their photos taken with Clara, the little princess, played by Cymri Chang ... And Ballet Hawaii is doing its "Nutcracker" at the Blaisdell Concert Hall Dec. 21-23, and joining veteran Sugar Plum Fairy Ashley Tuttle will be her fellow American Ballet Theater principal Ethan Stiefel. If he looks familiar, you may have seen him starring in the film "Center Stage" opposite Hawaii's own Amanda Schull. He was also Time magazine's "Dance Pick" of the year ...WHEN ABC's Sam Donaldson was here for the "Pearl Harbor" movie premiere, he told Halekulani G.M. Fred Honda he would return. Like Gen. Douglas MacArthur, he kept his word when he covered the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor ...
Call him "Ace"
STAR 101.9 D.J. Scotty Blaisdell is now one-up on his morning co-host, Hudson. He shot a hole-in-one during the 4th annual Sam Choy golf tournament at Hapuna. The ace came on the par-3 seventh hole, which was Blaisdell's last, thanks to a shotgun start that had him begin his round on the eighth hole. He hit a knockdown 8-iron, sending it exactly 138 yards and into the hole. He and fellow celebs raised $38,700 for Kawaihae Transitional Housing Program in Kona ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com