 The
2001 Honolulu Marathon was run today. As I write this article,
some runners are still running the race. Traffic was snarled, but
most Hawaii motorists are familiar with the Sunday Marathon traffic jams
and were akamai enough to stay off of the road.
22,465 people entered what is one of Honolulu's major attractions.
Sept. 11 worried Marathon and Tourism officials alike, however the
numbers came out better than expected. 4000 less people signed up
for last years Marathon. People fly in from every nation in the
world to participate in the biggest race of its kind in the US.
The Honolulu Marathon is a great boost to our economy, bringing in an
estimated $80 million to our local businesses. A great boost for a
suffering state!
The Japanese usually make up more than 50% of the entrants in the
Honolulu Marathon every year. This year, prerace tallys numbered
the Japanese entrants at over 8700. That's only 38% of the total
entrys, attributable to Japan's current recession, economic woes, and
the fear of travel. The numbers could have been worse.
For most people the marathon is all about fun. I caught these
drummers at Maunalua Bay giving support to the runners. The
runners all cheered as they ran past, very appreciative of the Aloha
that was provided to them! The only place where traffic was worse
than Kalanianiole Highway was the porta-potties down at the park and
ride. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Aloha spirit was
shown by all, from the Spongers to the Drink hander-outters... Even the
police were in high spirits despite their traffic control assignments.
This years winners?
 The men's champ
was a 2 time champion from Kenya named Mbarak
Hussein
(Why does Kenya have all the fast runners?)
with a time of 2:15:09. His brother Ibrahim is also a
multiple time winner of the Honolulu Marathon. That's a fast
family! Do you suppose they were chased a lot as kids? Who
cares... No one could've caught up with them.
 The women's
first place finisher was Lyubov
Morgunova
from
Russia with a time of 2:29:54 (I think I can jog about 3
miles on a good day in that time). She successfully
defended her title from last year. Can you actually train in
Russia for this sort of thing? I didn't know that. Guess she
does a lot of indoor track work.
Well, I give these runners a lot of credit, as well as the organizers of
this monumental event. It seemed as if everyone had a blast, and
it gave a needed boost to our economy! Maybe next year I'll
enter. Ummm... Then again maybe not.
|
