A couple of hours after yesterday's start of the Honolulu Marathon, the sun came out over a wet course and muddy Kapiolani Park.

  Troy Lorenz and other friends and family waited at the finish line holding a sign for Maren Wing. The sign had a smiling sun and heart on it.

“;That (sign) definitely made me run a little faster,”; Wing said. “;It was like sunlight.”;

Wing said the rain during the first few hours of the marathon didn't really bother her.

“;After 19 miles it (the weather) doesn't really matter,”; she said.

At the medical tent, Dr. Lawrence Rotkin said rain and cloudy skies usually mean fewer patients because heat exhaustion is not as much a factor.

“;It would have been better for me if it had stayed overcast,”; he said as the sun and heat began to rise. As of midmorning only one person went to the hospital as a precaution because of a high fever, he said.

A spectator slipped and fell in the mud at Kapiolani Park and was treated for cuts and bruises, he said.

Dr. Will Scruggs showed up for his shift wearing a Superman T-shirt after running the marathon in about four hours, not his best time.

“;I knew I was going to volunteer, so I took it easy,”; he said. “;Last year I was in a lot more pain than this year.”;

Except for an incident involving a stolen truck on Kalanianaole Highway, traffic was moderate despite all the road closures, said race co-director Ken MacDowell, who said they were able to reopen most roads between a half-hour to an hour earlier than last year.

Dr. Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon, said he was a little worried Saturday afternoon when it began to pour again. But it didn't appear the rain or wind would make the course un-runnable.

The economy likely affected the marathon more than the weather, he said. Registration was down slightly from last year.

Ninety-year-old Glady Burrill did not finish. Her grandson and walking partner, Mike Burrill Jr., said she was on pace to break the age-group world record until mile 23, when her stomach started bothering her.

    The Running Of The 36th Honolulu Marathon  

 

 

Before most of the state was even awake more than 23 thousand marathoners were experiencing the excitement of the 36th Annual Honolulu Marathon.

 

[ Watch ]

 

 

 

 

  Though she did not finish, she did not end up in the hospital. “;She's fine,”; he said after they pulled out. “;We stopped before it got to that (critical) point.”;

In typical Glady style, she was more worried about disappointing other people rather than her own hardships—of which there have been plenty. Her husband of 69 years, Gene, died Thursday morning after a long illness. Glady continued with her scheduled participation in her fifth Honolulu Marathon because she knew that Gene would have wanted it that way.

Shave ice vendor Mike Holt was a little concerned Saturday that he wouldn't be able to sell his product in the rain. “;The last thing anybody would want is shave ice,”; Holt said. But business was picking up in the late morning, “;now that the sun came out.”;

Tracy Coffey finished the marathon with a slower time thousands of miles away from her husband, Maj. Ross Coffey, who ran a parallel “;Honoluarathon”; at Camp Taji in Iraq.

She ran with a group of about 10 Army wives from Schofield who have husbands in Iraq.

“;All the guys had been briefed on what to do in case there was indirect fire,”; she said.

Coffey e-mailed a picture of her finish to her husband.

“;It's a huge stress reliever,”; she said of the marathon and training for the marathon. “;It makes me a better mom.”;

She added, “;It also means a lot to the guys to have a goal and have something to train for.”;

After running or jumping puddles to get to the finish line, runners gingerly stepped through the slippery mud to stand in line for water, free oatmeal cookies and apples, and a blue finisher's T-shirt.

Finisher Wesley Hall, from Los Angeles, said finishing his first marathon meant more than just getting a shell lei and shirt.

Hall started training after quitting smoking and joined a group that raised money for the AIDS Project Los Angeles through the marathon.

“;I've always wanted to run one (a marathon),”; he said. “;Once you do one, you know you can do anything.”;