Muindi repeats win at Honolulu Marathon

HONOLULU – Defending champion Jimmy Muindi of Kenya won the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday for the fifth time, finishing 49 seconds short of his record-setting pace of last year.

Olesya Nurgalieva won the women’s race. Russian women have won seven of the last 10 marathons.Muindi finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, while three-time winner Mbarak Hussein was second in 2:15:06.Hussein, originally from Kenya, is an American.Last year, Muindi broke a course that had stood for 18 years.This time, he broke alone from the pack after about 19 kilometers (12 miles), and gradually fell off a record-setting pace.Also, the clock on the pace vehicle ahead of him malfunctioned.”You need to know the pace you are setting,” Muindi said.”I was running blindly.”Hussein was surprised Muindi made his move so early.”I didn’t think he would go out that early,” he said.”But he knows the course, and I didn’t want to try to keep up.”At that point, Hussein, who was running fifth, said he decided to go for second place.Nurgalieva won the women’s race with 2:30:24, followed by Eri Hayakawa of Japan in 2:32:59.Nurgalieva, more experienced in ultra-marathons, said she just wanted to finish in the top five to earn prize money, and was surprised she won.I believe more in myself now.I showed I can do not only ultra-marathons but a regular one as well,” she said through an interpreter.She ran the first five kilometers (three miles) with her twin sister Elena, then lost her in the early morning darkness.Hayakawa, the 2003 winner, said her time was her worst in a marathon.”I was not physically ready to run like I wanted,” she said.The women’s course record-holder and defending champion, Lyubov Morgunova of Russia, was fifth at 2:40:47.Muindi and Nurgalieva each won $17,000 ( (about N$102 000) in prize money and bonuses.More than 28 000 runners signed up for the 33rd marathon, including 17000 from Japan.About 24 600 started the race.- Nampa-APRussian women have won seven of the last 10 marathons.Muindi finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, while three-time winner Mbarak Hussein was second in 2:15:06.Hussein, originally from Kenya, is an American.Last year, Muindi broke a course that had stood for 18 years.This time, he broke alone from the pack after about 19 kilometers (12 miles), and gradually fell off a record-setting pace.Also, the clock on the pace vehicle ahead of him malfunctioned.”You need to know the pace you are setting,” Muindi said.”I was running blindly.”Hussein was surprised Muindi made his move so early.”I didn’t think he would go out that early,” he said.”But he knows the course, and I didn’t want to try to keep up.”At that point, Hussein, who was running fifth, said he decided to go for second place.Nurgalieva won the women’s race with 2:30:24, followed by Eri Hayakawa of Japan in 2:32:59.Nurgalieva, more experienced in ultra-marathons, said she just wanted to finish in the top five to earn prize money, and was surprised she won.I believe more in myself now.I showed I can do not only ultra-marathons but a regular one as well,” she said through an interpreter.She ran the first five kilometers (three miles) with her twin sister Elena, then lost her in the early morning darkness.Hayakawa, the 2003 winner, said her time was her worst in a marathon.”I was not physically ready to run like I wanted,” she said.The women’s course record-holder and defending champion, Lyubov Morgunova of Russia, was fifth at 2:40:47.Muindi and Nurgalieva each won $17,000 ( (about N$102 000) in prize money and bonuses.More than 28 000 runners signed up for the 33rd marathon, including 17000 from Japan.About 24 600 started the race.- Nampa-AP