Kapiolani Park is normally not the cool place to hang at around 4:30 a.m. in a downpour. But somebody's enjoying a good time. Good enough of one to giggle.

“;Eh, stop throwing it,”; comes a mirthful voice out of the dark.

More laughter.

Surely these people have something better to do than stand in the middle of a rainstorm and pass bags of ice down a line, like sandbags in preparation for a flood.

It's like a military operation, all the tents, all the last-minute preparations, the field expedient measures to avoid a potential snafu. But there's laughter in the dark; here a bag of ice dropped into a puddle is what it should be - funny, not the end of the world. There's pressure to get the job done quickly (72.5 tons of cubes to move), but there's a sense of joy among the 9,950 volunteers, too.

Maybe it's because the Honolulu Marathon is where a newly widowed woman in her 90s, Glady Burrill, can achieve stardom and make the national talk-show circuit.

If her story doesn't appeal to you at some level, check lost and found for your heart.

And now, a new King of Kalanianaole. He's Patrick Ivuti.

Six-time Honolulu winner Jimmy Muindi is a good guy whose name enters our consciousness each year this time, then disappears as quickly as he on one of his breakaways from the pack.

But Jimmy may be done now at 35 - fifth yesterday, caboose of a train of Kenyans out front.

Ivuti, his brother-in-law, a soft-spoken man who took off at the halfway mark and won it unchallenged. He seemed very tired and wet at the end.

Women, even at the elite level, look less the worse for the effort than men. Fewer females limp around or lay motionless on the muddy grass. I think it has something to do with the innate capacity to deal with prolonged pain.

Regardless, how does one appear so serene and dignified after running 26 miles as women's winner Kiyoko Shimahara?

She's not an out-of-nowhere victor like Eri Hayakawa. But Shimahara's win will also inspire her countrywomen and more runners will come from Japan, offsetting this year's registration dip.

Hideki Okajima ambles in 6 hours after the start, three innings after 80-something Bettyjean McHugh finishes.

The Red Sox aren't happy with this endeavor. Will Francona make his set-up reliever run extra laps?

The 4-to-6 hour finishers are the most fun to watch. This is where you see the barefoot imitate-the-logo guys, some women who look like models, some who don't, girls and guys wearing dresses, Japanese sporting reindeer gear. Some kids who really shouldn't be doing this yet.

  It winds down, most of the 23,230 across the line, the skies finally clear. Around noon, plenty of mud and dazed finishers to dodge. But no timing system defects, no failed drug tests - not yet, anyway; events this big, problems can surface much later.

Glady needs a lift from an ambulance near the end, but she's on her feet at the finish.

The prevailing scent of analgesic marks a balmy day in paradise.