COURTESY OF HONOLULU MARATHON Russia's Lyubov Morgunova won in record time yesterday after taking last year off while recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident.

Back in a big way

Russia's Lyubov Morgunova had something to prove.

She stayed with the pacesetter early, grabbed a lead and never let up yesterday to shatter her own record in winning the Honolulu Marathon women's race for the third time.

Taking advantage of light wind and cool weather, Morgunova finished the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours 27 minutes, 33 seconds, exactly a minute better than her previous record of 2:28:33 in 2000.

"I'm so happy I can hardly hold back the tears," said Morgunova, who didn't race a year ago due to injuries suffered in a car accident. "It's a huge victory for me because that accident held me back and it was preventing me from doing my best. I was planning to try to beat the record and get to around 2:28, but I'm even happier that I went lower than that. I ran most of the race way ahead, so I would have been disappointed if I didn't win."

It was Morgunova's first Honolulu win since back-to-back titles in 2000 and '01, and she earned a $42,000 pay day.

Defending champion Eri Hayakawa of Japan wasn't as fortunate. She trailed early, but that was the least of her problems. A few miles into the race, she took a major spill and suffered a serious gash to her hip and side. She also had cuts and bruises on her knee, elbow and shoulder.

Despite the setback, Hayakawa broke Morgunova's old record and finished in 2:28:11 for second place.

"It's honorable to have beaten the old record," Hayakawa said. "But I wish that I hadn't fallen on the street. I was trying to get a paper cup at an aid station and I couldn't catch it correctly and it kind of threw me off. If I didn't fall, I think I would have had the potential to hold the record and defend the championship."

It was more than just a fall.

"She hit the ground hard," said Honolulu Marathon media liaison Pat Bigold. "It looks like she got hit by a Mack truck or went to the running of the bulls and got caught."

Hayakawa couldn't walk after the race and went to the awards ceremony in a wheelchair.

Morgunova kept up with designated rabbit Olga Romanova, a fellow Russian, until Romanova dropped back.

A group of Japanese runners also threatened early on, but Morgunova led by 45 seconds for most of the last half of the race.

"Lyubov was just absolutely wonderful," said Patti Dillon, who won four straight Honolulu Marathon titles from 1978 through 1981. "She never looked stressed and she came in here with her best stuff. I'm sure it helped when she heard that Eri was out to break her record."

Russia's Albina Ivanova, the runner-up to Hayakawa a year ago, finished third, followed by countrywomen Alevtina Ivanova and Tatyana Petrova. Japan's Mina Ogawa and Junko Suzuki placed sixth and seventh.

Sayuri Kusutani took eighth place and won the local division as the first Hawaii women's resident to finish. She beat local runner Jeannie Wokasch, who took ninth overall.

Kamaaina control: Cynthia Schnack and Jon Lyau were the men's and women's kamaaina award winners, again.

Schnack won the award, given to the first person born in Hawaii to cross the finish line, for the 11th straight time. She placed 13th overall.

"My time (3:00:02) was a little slow for me, but someone really ordered up excellent weather," said Schnack, who normally finishes around 2:58. "My family was out, stationed where they said they'd be and supporting me, so I can't complain, even though I was trudging along.

"Only time will tell (if the streak continues next year)."

Lyau also won his 11th kamaaina award and he finished 34th overall in the men's race. His main objective was to get to the starting line healthy.

"As long as I'm feeling good, I've got a shot, so I knew I would have a pretty solid race," he said. "I had some tendinitis in April so I took a few weeks off. And then I had problems with my knee after the Maui Marathon in September so I had to cut back on workouts. Today was probably the slowest I ever started out, but I just wanted to make sure that I was feeling good."

Lyau's wife, Kelli, finished third among the kamaaina women's participants in 3:23:39. Somehow, they've found a way to keep up with their workouts while raising 11-month-old daughter Sierra.

Mike Ferreira of Kaneohe was the first men's local (Hawaii resident) finisher. He was 40th overall in 2:46:49.

Health and wealth: Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer, made an appearance yesterday as a spokesman for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

He gave exercise tips to participants in the 10K race/walk and he talked to them about healthy food choices.

For every $30 race-walk entry fee, $20 is donated to Ronald McDonald House.