HONOLULU — Defending champion Jimmy Muindi of Kenya and Lyubov Morgunova of Russia won Honolulu Marathon titles in event-record times Sunday. Muindi finished the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 12 seconds — 31 seconds faster than the old
HONOLULU — Defending champion Jimmy Muindi of Kenya and Lyubov Morgunova of Russia won Honolulu Marathon titles in event-record times Sunday.
Muindi finished the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 12 seconds — 31 seconds faster than the old mark set by Ibrahim Hussein in 1986. Muindi is the first man to win the Honolulu Marathon four times.
David Mutua of Kenya was second in 2:12:52, followed by three-time winner Mbarak Hussein, Ibrahim’s brother, in 2:14:00.
Morgunova won the women’s division in 2:27:33, bettering her event record of 2:28:33, established in 2000.
Defending champion Eri Hayakawa of Japan, after being injured in a fall early in the race, made an amazing strong run and finished second in 2:28:11. Albina Ivanova of Russia was third in 2:32:44.
Muindi won $40,000 for his first-place finish and bonuses, while Morgunova won $42,000, according to Honolulu Marathon Association president Jim Barahal.
Conditions were ideal for the elite runners with cool temperatures and very little wind. They ran most of the 5 a.m. race before sunrise.
More than 26,000 runners were registered for the race, which followed a course through downtown Honolulu, Waikiki, East Honolulu and back to the Kapiolani Park finish line.
