A big-time Hawaiian blessing -- rain -- welcomed the 27,892 runners of the 35th Honolulu Marathon yesterday, turning the turf around the finish line into a sea of mud.
But that didn't keep Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia from successfully defending his title with a winning time of 2:17:26. For the women, Alevtina Biktimirova took the first-place prize with a time of 2:33:07 to become the fourth consecutive Russian woman to win the race.
The rain might have kept some runners away, said marathon president Jim Barahal. Registration was down about 800 from last year, with a drop in the number of runners from Japan.
Among the muddy: Princess Anita of the Netherlands, cheering on her husband, Prince Pieter-Christiaan.
"What I like about this place is the people," said the prince, who also ran in 2002. "I had people stay with me throughout the race, help me through it, which is nice. I never had that in other places."
They ran through the heavy downpour beating down on their bodies and through the hot, humid air that followed with the sunshine. As the thousands of runners in yesterday's Honolulu Marathon finished the race, they began their second obstacle -- sloshing through the mud-covered grounds of Kapiolani Park.
Princess Anita of the Netherlands, cheering on her husband running in the marathon, had splotches of mud lining the bottom of her bright white pants and brown shoes. Runners' high-quality sneakers were smeared with mud. Others simply went barefoot once they reached the swamp-like grounds.
But for many of the runners in the 35th annual, 26.2-mile marathon, which began at Ala Moana Beach Park and stretched to Hawaii Kai, any weather was good weather as long as they crossed the finish line at Kapiolani Park.
Stephanie Blake, of Puerto Rico, huddled with three family members under shelter as the rain fell before the marathon started.
"We were trying to keep our shoes dry so we wouldn't run with squishy shoes," Blake said. "That didn't really work."
Marathons have become reunions for Blake's family. Her sister and mother flew from Chicago to join an aunt, who lives in Kailua, specifically for the Honolulu Marathon.
The rain may have kept some runners away though, said marathon president Jim Barahal. This year, 27,829 runners registered for the marathon, about 800 fewer than last year, including a drop in the number of participants from Japan.
Barahal said he heard from hopeful Japanese tourists that they couldn't get flights from Japan or hotels in Oahu. Locally, he believes residents that typically register in the week before the race decided not to because of last week's torrential rainfall that drenched the island.
Some runners, including Prince Pieter-Christiaan of the Netherlands, husband of Princess Anita, welcomed the rain during yesterday's run. When the sun came out afterward though, Pieter-Christiaan said local marathon runners got him through the humid heat as he ran a long stretch in Hawaii Kai.
"What I like about this place is the people," said the prince, who also participated in the 2002 Honolulu Marathon. "I had people stay with me throughout the race, help me through it, which is nice. I never had that in other places."
Some say the best part of marathons is the adrenaline rush. Joni Ablay, of Manoa, said it's the costumes runners wear, which included an elf, tiger and a man in a loin cloth yesterday.
The Honolulu Marathon T-shirt -- this year's was yellow -- is a nice souvenir, runners say, but many simply enjoy the feeling of finishing.
John Lim, of Los Angeles, ran across the line with his two young sons, 6-year-old Alexander and 4-year-old John Paul, who joined him in the final stretch. His two boys copied their father and raised their arms triumphantly.
"We want them to run marathons when they grow up," Lim said.
HONOLULU MARATHON
Males
Top 130
1. Ambesse Tolosa, 30, Ethiopia, 02:17:26; 2. Jimmy Muindi, 34, Kenya, 02:18:53; 3. Eric Mzioki, 99, Kenya, 02:21:32; 4. Boniface Mbuvi, 30, Kenya, 02:22:59; 5. Aleksei Aleksandrov, 23, Russia, 02:24:36; 6. Satoru Hori, 29, JAPAN, 02:29:12; 7. Atsushi Ito, 22, JAPAN, 02:29:53; 8. Masakazu Takahashi, 33, Japan, 02:31:01; 9. Tetsuro Kataoka, 23, JAPAN, 02:33:14; 10. Yuji Haraguchi, 34, JAPAN, 02:33:16.
11. Yoshikazu Hara, 35, Honolulu , 02:33:39; 12. Joseph Mutiso, 34, Kenya, 02:33:49; 13. Esben Dalgaard, 22, Honolulu , 02:36:40; 14. Hirokazu Yoshida, 28, JAPAN, 02:38:27; 15. Takanori Fujii, 31, JAPAN, 02:38:44; 16. Takenori Kaga, 39, JAPAN, 02:38:44; 17. Takeyasu Horii, 24, JAPAN, 02:39:10; 18. Makoto Sakurai, 39, JAPAN, 02:41:46; 19. Hisao Sekiguchi, 22, JAPAN, 02:42:07; 20. Kazuyoshi Maeda, 29, JAPAN, 02:42:22.
21. Noriyuki Matsumura, 27, JAPAN, 02:43:06; 22. Yuichi Saito, 24, JAPAN, 02:43:15; 23. Kazuhiko Okuyama, 22, JAPAN, 02:43:15; 24. Yoshiki Takada, 24, JAPAN, 02:44:57; 25. Brendon Seipolt, 40, Australia, 02:45:18; 26. Kentaro Yoshikawa, 30, JAPAN, 02:45:29; 27. Akira Yokoo, 21, JAPAN, 02:46:02; 28. Lawrence Merrifield Jr, 40, Portland OR, 02:46:29; 29. Takuya Nakamura, 22, JAPAN, 02:46:48; 30. Takahiro Oue, 32, JAPAN, 02:46:57.
31. Hiroaki Yamada, 31, JAPAN, 02:47:47; 32. Jonathan Lyau, 43, Honolulu, 02:47:52; 33. Katsutoshi Saijo, 33, Japan, 02:48:42; 34. Yoshiyuki Shibata, 37, JAPAN, 02:49:15; 35. Hiroyuki Nishimura, 37, Japan, 02:49:19; 36. Shinji Nakamura, 29, JAPAN, 02:49:31; 37. Kenichi Okumura, 39, JAPAN, 02:49:38; 38. Tetsuo Kiso, 39, JAPAN, 02:49:41; 39. Jun Ito, 34, JAPAN, 02:50:03; 40. Yu Kuroiwa, 30, JAPAN, 02:51:31.
41. Shinya Komiyama, 22, JAPAN, 02:52:47; 42. David Carlsson, 43, Honolulu , 02:53:09; 43. Taiga Fujii, 21, JAPAN, 02:53:16; 44. Yuji Yamamoto, 22, JAPAN, 02:53:28; 45. Rikita Sugiyama, 29, JAPAN, 02:53:53; 46. Shuho Takei, 34, JAPAN, 02:53:55; 47. Kazuhiko Ozawa, 42, JAPAN, 02:54:02; 48. Mutsumi Itou, 36, JAPAN, 02:54:16; 49. Karl Honma, 44, Honolulu , 02:54:17; 50. Yoshiharu Nabekura, 44, JAPAN, 02:54:30.
51. Igarashi Akira, 40, JAPAN, 02:54:52; 52. Hirotatsu Shimmura, 22, JAPAN, 02:55:06; 53. Mike Ferreira, 43, Kaneohe, 02:55:14; 54. Atsushi Sano, 33, JAPAN, 02:55:26; 55. Keith Matiskella, 35, Harker Heights TX, 02:55:47; 56. Tomohiro Kurose, 34, JAPAN, 02:55:48; 57. Mitsuaki Kaneko, 38, JAPAN, 02:55:59; 58. Kunihiro Takazawa, 39, JAPAN, 02:56:18; 59. Yasuo Sengoku, 31, JAPAN, 02:56:27; 60. Junichi Yokoyama, 38, Japan, 02:56:29.
61. Dan Goltz, 36, Volcano, 02:56:44; 62. Hiroshi Katsura, 40, JAPAN, 02:56:55; 63. JOHN STOLZ, 52, Bend OR, 02:57:38; 64. Kazuaki Takase, 34, JAPAN, 02:57:39; 65. Lyman Perry, 40, Volcano, 02:57:40; 66. Koichi Harigaya, 42, JAPAN, 02:57:41; 67. Jeff Olive, 40, Peachtree City GA, 02:57:52; 68. Lawrence Saina, 29, Japan, 02:58:04; 69. Rei Tsukahara, 20, JAPAN, 02:58:18; 70. Alan Ryan, 37, Laupahoehoe, 02:58:21.
71. Kevin Murphy, 39, Honolulu, 02:58:23; 72. Derrek Higa, 36, Kaneohe, 02:58:32; 73. Christian Dullock-Binoche, 29, Kaneohe, 02:58:53; 74. Tatsunori Iwami, 21, JAPAN, 02:59:34; 75. Jason Thorp, 36, Hilo, 02:59:41; 76. Hiroyuki Sakuma, 36, JAPAN, 02:59:48; 77. John Mozer, 31, Aiea, 02:59:51; 78. Miyoji Nishimura, 46, JAPAN, 02:59:54; 79. Hiroshi Uenishi, 28, JAPAN, 03:00:06; 80. Mark Speck, 37, Honolulu, 03:00:10.
81. Kaoru Hoshino, 45, JAPAN, 03:00:43;82. Yoshiaki Mikami, 39, JAPAN, 03:00:49; 83. Yoshinori Azuma, 24, JAPAN, 03:00:51; 84. Akihiko Futaki, 48, JAPAN, 03:01:09; 85. Daniel Mcgimpsey, 25, Olympia WA, 03:01:13; 86. Tim Rieth, 32, Honolulu , 03:01:22; 87. Yukihiro Nakamoto, 52, JAPAN, 03:01:58; 88. Kazuharu Muto, 30, JAPAN, 03:02:19; 89. Masamichi Kinoshita, 27, JAPAN, 03:02:32; 90. Mark Shorter, 50, Canada, 03:02:35.
91. Takeshi Mitsuhashi, 48, JAPAN, 03:03:10; 92. Takuji Suzuki, 40, JAPAN, 03:03:18; 93. Aaron Wallen, 36, Honolulu , 03:03:24; 94. Alister Knox, 34, Paia , 03:03:42; 95. Masahiko Nagasaka, 44, JAPAN, 03:04:16; 96. Jan Flidr, 50, Czech Republic, 03:04:37; 97. Jay Kauwale, 47, Kaneohe, 03:04:58; 98. Hidehiko Numano, 42, JAPAN, 03:05:21; 99. Paul Kriegler, 24, Hilo , 03:05:26; 100. Yoshi Shimada, 45, JAPAN, 03:05:38.
101. Yasuhiro Ito, 52, JAPAN, 03:05:40; 102. Christopher Larson, 34, Honolulu, 03:05:49; 103. Jason Florimonte, 34, Kaneohe, 03:05:52; 104. Masashi Abe, 55, JAPAN, 03:06:00; 105. Atsushi Yamamoto, 37, JAPAN, 03:06:10; 106. Toru Morikawa, 39, JAPAN, 03:06:15; 107. Jun Sajima, 23, JAPAN, 03:06:17; 108. Aiko Tanaka, 28, JAPAN, 03:06:25; 109. William Wong, 25, Honolulu, 03:06:29; 110. Tokio Wakabayashi, 56, JAPAN, 03:06:31.
111. Eric Petersen, 41, Holladay UT, 03:06:32; 112. Minoru Nishizaki, 47, JAPAN, 03:06:41; 113. Brian Joseph, 34, Kailua, 03:06:42; 114. Yoshifusa Takahashi, 21, JAPAN, 03:06:45; 115. Katsuji Morita, 60, JAPAN, 03:06:54; 116. Tetsutomo Iizuka, 47, JAPAN, 03:06:55; 117. Yoshiharu Ariumi, 27, JAPAN, 03:06:55; 118. Hirotsugu Kuwabara, 27, JAPAN, 03:06:59; 119. Koji Yamazaki, 33, JAPAN, 03:07:01; 120. Hideo Saito, 26, JAPAN, 03:07:06.
121. Nobuaki Sasamori, 61, JAPAN, 03:07:14; 122. Daniel Hodel, 57, Kailua Kona, 03:07:25; 123. Naoki Kajima, 35, JAPAN, 03:07:28; 124. Shun Tsuyuki, 20, JAPAN, 03:07:50; 125. Mamoru Tanazawa, 38, Japan, 03:07:50; 126. William Turner, 38, Honolulu, 03:07:51; 127. Isao Tatekawa, 44, Aiea , 03:07:58; 128. Gino Chouinard, 39, Canada, 03:08:08; 129. Bryan Audiss, 43, Honolulu , 03:08:21.130. Susumu Nakajima, 58, Japan, 03:08:38.
Females
Top 130
1. Alevtina Biktimirova, 25, Russia, 02:33:07; 2. Akemi-Isige Ozaki, 30, Japan, 02:34:22; 3. Tatiana Petrova, 24, Russia, 02:35:56; 4. Kaori Yoshida, 26, Japan, 02:43:21; 5. Mina Ogawa, 32, Japan, 02:47:29; 6. Lisa Mizutani, 22, JAPAN, 02:50:48; 7. Satoko Uetani, 26, JAPAN, 02:52:30; 8. Maiko Kawano, 25, JAPAN, 02:54:14; 9. Yuri Kambara, 31, JAPAN, 02:56:21; 10. Helen Stanton, 34, Australia, 02:57:10.
11. Yukiko Makihara, 21, JAPAN, 02:58:10; 12. Jasmine Sessions, 27, Farmington UT, 03:00:12; 13. Keiko Tanaka, 23, JAPAN, 03:01:15; 14. Bree Wee, 27, Kailua Kona, 03:03:11; 15. Aoki Yoko, 24, JAPAN, 03:04:47; 16. Sachiko Kano, 47, JAPAN, 03:06:12; 17. Junko Nose, 36, JAPAN, 03:11:08; 18. Junko Goto, 28, JAPAN, 03:11:55; 19. Rachel Ross, 31, Honolulu, 03:12:20; 20. Noriko Hirao, 27, JAPAN, 03:12:41.
21. Atsuko Fujimoto, 29, JAPAN, 03:12:44; 22. Shino Hoshi, 42, JAPAN, 03:13:07; 23. Jill Pettibone, 40, Roseburg OR, 03:13:25; 24. Mari Hirata, 28, Japan, 03:13:30; 25.Nicola Gildersleeve, 23, Canada, 03:14:46; 26. Sayuri Kusutani, 48, Honolulu , 03:14:58; 27. Rani Tanimoto, 32, Kealakekua, 03:15:11; 28. Yoko Yamazawa, 39, JAPAN, 03:15:14; 29. Sandra Ferreira, 38, Kaneohe , 03:16:59; 30. Mayumi Negishi, 35, JAPAN, 03:17:13.
31. Masako Kataoka, 47, JAPAN, 03:17:55; 32. Mayuko Oda, 27, JAPAN, 03:18:43; 33. Sachiko Kano, 24, JAPAN, 03:18:57; 34. Susan Williams, 38, Littleton CO, 03:19:17; 35. Tomoko Hara, 34, Honolulu, 03:19:26; 36. Susan Dezzani, 34, Mililani , 03:19:26; 37. Shelley Grisbrook, 43, Kailua , 03:19:28; 38. Carlyn Cusack, 24, San Antonio TX, 03:19:30; 39. Hiroko Mitsu, 36, JAPAN, 03:20:55; 40. Yuka Harigaya, 33, JAPAN, 03:21:16.
41. Hirono Someya, 26, JAPAN, 03:21:48; 42. Hiroko Endo, 31, JAPAN, 03:22:24; 43. Miho Ikeda, 26, JAPAN, 03:22:48; 44. Masuko Sugiyama, 37, JAPAN, 03:22:49; 45. Kei Onzuka, 42, JAPAN, 03:23:07; 46. Atsuko Yamada, 50, JAPAN, 03:23:34; 47. Mariko Nakajima, 33, Japan, 03:23:43; 48. Masako Ogihara, 39, JAPAN, 03:23:51; 49. Mayumi Ishikawa, 36, JAPAN, 03:25:39; 50. Seiko Yoshimi, 26, JAPAN, 03:25:59.
51. Nozomi Kawamura, 22, JAPAN, 03:26:03; 52. Takako Oi, 43, JAPAN, 03:26:04; 53. Nobuko Mitani, 37, JAPAN, 03:26:14; 54. Belinda Wray, 29, Mililani , 03:26:35; 55. Justine Boulin, 24, Canada, 03:26:49; 56. Frauke Fichtner, 31, Germany, 03:26:58; 57. Siobhan Walsh, 30, Ireland, 03:27:10; 58. Marie Benito, 42, Guam, 03:27:28; 59. Emiko Makino, 36, JAPAN, 03:27:30; 60. Laura Velasco, 39, Escondido CA, 03:27:38.
61. Chiharu Hashimoto, 32, JAPAN, 03:28:13; 62. Kathryn Meade, 30, Ft. Collins CO, 03:28:30; 63. Maki Shoji, 37, JAPAN, 03:28:32; 64. Michiko Iwai, 18, JAPAN, 03:28:44; 65. Toyoko Maeda, 60, Honolulu, 03:29:53; 66. Yukie Neko, 26, JAPAN, 03:30:10; 67. Celine Tallian, 43, Canada, 03:30:33; 68. Kylee Nakamura, 27, Honolulu, 03:31:17; 69. Erisa Ogawa, 45, JAPAN, 03:31:28; 70. Ayako Kaneko, 39, JAPAN, 03:31:31.
71. Eriko Yamada, 40, JAPAN, 03:31:57; 72. Tokiwa Endo, 35, JAPAN, 03:32:42; 73. Uilani Pauole de Sa, 40, Honolulu, 03:32:42; 74. Sharon Moran, 34, Honolulu, 03:32:43; 75. Candes Gentry, 30, Honolulu, 03:33:13; 76. Masumi Shirai, 22, JAPAN, 03:33:22; 77. Fariyal Samson, 39, Honolulu, 03:33:30; 78. Natsuko Nishiyama, 25, JAPAN, 03:34:24; 79. Elin Soto-Thompson, 32, Honolulu, 03:34:47; 80. Robin Shishido, 26, Honolulu, 03:34:56.
81, Yoko Noma, 42, Honolulu, 03:35:10; 82. Kana Ito, 29, JAPAN, 03:35:10; 83. Yumi Fuchiwaki, 34, JAPAN, 03:35:11; 84. Jessica Vivers, 23, Haleiwa, 03:35:44; 85. Misa Kojima, 38, JAPAN, 03:36:13; 86. Kerstin Busse, 38, Kailua Kona, 03:36:30; 87. Masako Nakajima, 38, JAPAN, 03:36:36; 88. Shie Yamada, 34, JAPAN, 03:36:46; 89. Emi Hagiwara, 40, JAPAN, 03:36:56.
90. Colleen Pratt, 27, Oak Park IL, 03:37:25; 91. Satoko Hasegawa, 35, JAPAN, 03:38:00; 92. Sumiko Tanaka, 55, JAPAN, 03:38:00; 93. Yumi Shito, 36, JAPAN, 03:38:03; 94. Kelly Calway, 23, Mililani , 03:38:22; 95. Satomi Turner, 42, Kapolei, 03:38:33; 96. Shizuka Matsukawa, 40, Honolulu, 03:39:12; 97. Sae Araki, 35, JAPAN, 03:39:12; 98. Ruth Bury, 48, Temecula CA, 03:39:19; 99. Mutsumi Takeuchi, 37, JAPAN, 03:39:22; 100. Kumiko Kobayashi, 32, JAPAN, 03:39:26.
101. Hiromi Murata, 45, JAPAN, 03:39:29; 102. Noriko Okita, 35, JAPAN, 03:39:29; 103. Manami Susuki, 24, JAPAN, 03:39:41; 104. Sachiko Miyajima, 38, JAPAN, 03:39:48; 105. Lynn Hamasaki, 43, Kaneohe, 03:40:02; 106. Ritsuko Oka, 42, JAPAN, 03:40:03; 107. Sigrid Frost, 43, Germany, 03:40:10; 108. Michiko Nishiji, 30, JAPAN, 03:40:34; 109. Sarah Slay, 39, Kailua, 03:40:49; 110. Robin Winkler, 36, Glendora CA, 03:40:52.
111. Cindy Berkoski, 42, Honolulu, 03:41:10; 112. Fumiko Irokawa, 37, JAPAN, 03:41:11; 113. Kazuko Kawashima, 39, JAPAN, 03:41:15; 114. Ryoko Sakamoto, 38, JAPAN, 03:41:40; 115. Ayuko Morimoto, 22, JAPAN, 03:41:45; 116. Shoko Shin, 35, Japan, 03:42:05; 117. Carole Ann Higa, 45, Waipahu, 03:42:23; 118. Nita Patel, 41, Mililani, 03:42:24; 119. Lisa Tilton-Mccarthy, 40, Houston TX, 03:42:25; 120. Chikako Segawa, 43, JAPAN, 03:42:40.
121. Mayumi Hayano, 33, JAPAN, 03:42:46; 122. Sarah Pendergast, 32, Kapolei, 03:42:55; 123. Yuko Akiyama, 41, JAPAN, 03:43:20; 124. Lori Darnell, 36, Old Hickory TN, 03:43:27; 125. Jill Natividad, 31, Honolulu , 03:43:36; 126. Rie Ikemoto, 34, JAPAN, 03:43:44; 127. Mayumi Toyoshima, 40, JAPAN, 03:44:01; 128. Ritsuko Hamada, 29, JAPAN, 03:44:14; 129. Ayumi Yamamoto, 36, JAPAN, 03:44:24; 130. Kaori Shigeta, 34, JAPAN, 03:44:43
Wheelchairs
1. Masazumi Soejima, 37, JAPAN, 01:33:17; 2. Byung Hoon Yoo, 35, Korea, 01:45:11; 3. Hong Suk Man, 32, Korea - Republic of, 01:47:02; 4. Yun Oh Lee, 27, Korea, 01:55:09; 5. Kenny Herriot, 45, United Kingdom, 01:56:34; 6. Noboru Iwata, 59, JAPAN, 02:40:35; 7. Shunji Sakai, 54, JAPAN, 02:40:36; 8. John Greer, 43, Honolulu, 02:59:54; 9. Masatoshi Shibata, 62, JAPAN, 03:00:09; 10. Susannah Rice-Kamanu, 38, Honolulu, 03:33:57.
11. Dawna Zane, 26, Honolulu, 03:38:34; 12. Mike Nishimoto, 47, Honolulu, 04:35:12; 13. Masaki Hirooka, 12, JAPAN, 06:44:52; 14. Shinya Yamamoto, 39, JAPAN, 06:57:08; 15. Yoshiaki Sato, 37, JAPAN, 07:38:34.
