PO‘IPU — Shinya Ohashi, 29, from Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and Mirai Honma, 27, from Higashine City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, claimed first-place finishes for male and female, respectively on Sunday during the 14th running of The Kaua‘i Marathon and Half Marathon.
PO‘IPU — Shinya Ohashi, 29, from Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and Mirai Honma, 27, from Higashine City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, claimed first-place finishes for male and female, respectively on Sunday during the 14th running of The Kaua‘i Marathon and Half Marathon.
Ohashi, the male first finisher at the 2023 Iwaki Sunshine Marathon, blistered the 26-mile course with a run that stopped the clocks at 2 hours, 29 minutes and 34 seconds, more than 15 minutes faster than second overall finisher Michael Wardian, who finished in 2:46:31.
Honma, the female first finisher at the 2023 Iwaki Sunshine Marathon, crossed the finish arch third overall in the full marathon field with a run of 2:59:37. That run earned her first female finisher in the full marathon course.
“This was a lot better than the 2018 Kaua‘i Marathon,” said Ohashi through the interpreter Art Umezu.
During the 2018 marathon, Ohashi claimed first male finisher honors with a run of 2:23:33 run.
“I’ve been here about a week, and noticed the weather change,” said Tyler McCandless, who took overall finish honors in the half marathon course with a 1:05:15 run over 13 miles. “It was cooler in the morning than it has been the past several days. The wind started blowing, and the rains — not hard enough to soak — helped a lot.”
First female honors in the half marathon course belonged to Paile Mills of Cumberland Center, Maine, who crossed the finish line fifth overall at 1:22:11.
Joshua Iloreta topped the adaptive class at the Kaua‘i Marathon with a 3:05:11 run, followed by Darrin Deja at 3:05:12 and Jason Iloreta at 3:05:14. According to results by Athlinks, these were the three athletes listed in the adaptive class that ran the half marathon course.
The Sunday run that started right outside Po‘ipu Shopping Village brings an end to the multi-day Kaua‘i Marathon experience that included highlights, such as the Wilcox Health Sports and Wellness Expo, the 13th The Kaua‘i Marathon Keiki Race and numerous carb-loading parties presented by community sponsors.
The Kaua‘i Marathon is presented through the sponsorships of Kaua‘i Coffee Co., Wilcox Health, Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort &Spa, Alaska Airlines, Koloa Landing Resort, Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau and others.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
