For the second straight year, runners from Iwaki, Japan, finished strong on Sunday at the Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon.
Toa Ota of Iwaki City, Fukushima, won the 26-mile marathon run in humid heat that played with the 86-degree mark and negated the whispers of 8 mph winds out of the east.
“He led from the start,” said Michiru Umezu, one of the Japanese Sister City delegation escorts. “He was in first for the entire race.”
Ota stopped the clocks at 2 hours, 43 minutes and 38 seconds, nearly five minutes ahead of the second finisher, Steph Bruce of Flagstaff, Arizona, who stopped the clocks at 2:48:20, followed by Kana Murata in third place overall at 2:53:08. All three runners broke the 3-hour mark and finished within 15 minutes of each other.
“Kana met this lady Steph in the elevator of the hotel they’re staying at,” said Art Umezu, who was wearing a 2016 edition of the Iwaki Sunshine Marathon. “She asked Kana how fast she did the Iwaki Marathon. ‘She’s really fast,’ Kana said.”
For Ota, this was his first marathon win. He finished second in the Iwaki Sunshine Marathon, and only got to come to The Kauai Marathon because the first-place finisher suffered an injury.
The 16th annual Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon launched at sunrise, welcoming nearly 2,300 registered runners from 48 U.S. states and 18 countries. Organizers said there were 992 local participants, including 634 from Kauai, and 27 runners who completed either the full or half marathon for the 16th consecutive year.
Dan Crevier of Kihei, Maui, and Paul Wells of Plano, Texas, rounded out the top five.
Koa Kam of Lihue was the first Kauai resident to finish, crossing eighth overall on a time of 3:21.22. He was first in the M25-29 age group. He was followed in ninth place overall by James Lloyd of Koloa who was first in the M40-44 age group on his run that came in at 3:22:41, a minute back of Kam.
The first Kauai female runner was Bethanne Kapansky Wright of Kilauea.
Half Marathon Champion Tyler McCandless, 38, of Fort Collins, Colorado, set the pace for the 13-mile event early and stopped the clock at 1:06:52, nearly seven minutes ahead of second-place finisher Ben Payne of Honolulu who finished at 1:1 3:02.
Santiago Patino of Kapaa claimed the first Kauai resident to finish the Half Marathon after stopping the time at 1:21:47 in fourth overall. Dawn Worley of Kilauea was the first Kauai female to finish the event.
The first woman finisher crossed 11th overall with the honors going to Laurel Carpenter of Miami Beach, Florida, who stopped the clock at 1:25:40.
River Kahaunaele Kirsch was the youngest racer in this year’s field of 2,300 registered runners.
“He’s really tired,” said his father, Nate Kirsch. “He’s the youngest runner, and is definitely going to sleep well tonight.”
The Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon, with its pre-race programs, is made possible through key sponsors that include the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort &Spa, Kauai Coffee, Koloa Landing Resort, Brennecke’s Beach Broiler, Nukumoi Surf Co., Wilcox Health, Blue Dolphin Charters, Puka Dog, Elite Vacations, Holo Holo Charters, and Alaska Airlines.
For complete race results, visit The Kauai Marathon website at www.thekauaimarathon.com.
Source: The Garden Island
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