By Rich Sands, @thatrichsands.bsky.social
(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.
HONOLULU (08-Dec) – Olympic steeplechaser Yemane Haileselassie notched his first marathon win while Cynthia Limo defended her title at the 52nd running of the Honolulu Marathon on a warm and humid Sunday morning. Both earned $25,000 in prize money for their victories in a race that featured 18,844 starters, a significant increase from last year’s 15,594 (there were an additional 8,361 starters in the companion Start to Park 10-K)
Starting in darkness at 5:00 a.m. local time, Reuben Kerio of Kenya took charge of the men’s lead group of five that included Haileselassie, Barnabas Kiptum of Kenya and Kensuke Horio and Kei Tsuboi of Japan. Defending champion Paul Lonyangata of Kenya was nowhere to be seen and had dropped out. They passed 5-K in 15:25, then Horio dropped back. The leading quartet remained tightly bunched through 10-K (30:36) and 15-K (46:34). Moments later, Kerio surged ahead, quickly establishing a lead of about five seconds. Covering the 11th mile in 4:38, he continued to extend his lead.
“There was not pacemaker, so I wanted to make sure the pace was quick in the beginning,” said Kerio, who finished third here last year, second in 2018 and served as a pacer in 2019 and 2022.
In the 12th mile, Haileselassie broke away from Kiptum and Horio and was soon on Kerio’s heels. They passed through the halfway in 1:05:30, with Kiptum and Horio 21 seconds back. (Kiptum would drop out soon after.)
The pace drifted north of 5-minute miles during a hilly portion of the course, and Haileselassie stayed right behind Kerio. Then, on a downhill turn in the 18th mile, Haileselassie suddenly surged to the front. Kerio briefly gave chase, but soon fell back. “The halfway was a good pace for me,” said Haileselassie, who was an Olympic finalist in the steeplechase in 2016 and 2021 for his native Eritrea. “Then when I could see he was tired, I knew it was time to go, and if I waited for 40-K maybe it would be more of a race, so that’s why I made my move.”
Haileselassie’s advantage was 12 seconds at 30-K (1:33:07) and 33 seconds at 35-K (1:48:50), but Kerio hadn’t given up, despite a temperature of 74 F / 23 C and 81 percent humidity. As the sun began to rise, he started to slowly chip away at the lead. “I thought I might have a chance to close the gap,” he said. “I just told myself to keep moving, to…
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