Honolulu Marathon – Ethiopian Ehitu wins close battle in women\’s race – Kenyan Chepkwony makes late move to win men\’s race

Ehitu Kiros of Ethiopia put on a surge at the 24-mile mark at the start of the Diamond Head hill and won a closely fought victory in the women's race of Sunday's Honolulu Marathon. Her time in the slow-paced women's competition was two hours, 36 minutes and two seconds. Woynishet Girma, also of Ethiopia and the 2011 winner, was second in 2:36:10.

Defending champion Valentina Galimova was three seconds behind and took third place in 2:36:13, while Aheza Kiros, also of Ethiopia but no relation to the winner, was fourth in 2:41:32. The 25-year-old Kiros said she was feeling comfortable at the 24-mile mark and decided, „I can do much better than this pace.'' The lack of a pacesetter made for a slow pace for the women. `

`If there is a pacesetter, we can run faster,'' she said through an interpreter. Without a pacesetter, everyone holds back, hoping to make a move and win the race, she said. Galimova, who led for the first 10 miles, said she felt good at the start but didn't have much speed. Just past the 10-mile mark, the Ethiopians pulled away, leaving Galimova 17 seconds behind at mile 12 and seemingly out of contention. But when Aheza Kiros fell behind coming out of Hawaii Kai, Galimova moved up to third.

At mile 22, Galimova was 25 seconds behind, but had narrowed that to 11 seconds two miles later. After Ehitu Kiros made her move at 24 miles, Girma looked over her shoulder coming into Kapiolani Park about a mile from the finish line and saw how close Galimova was. She held on for second place.

When the eventual winner made her move, Galimova knew she couldn't catch her but thought she had a chance for second place. In closing the gap, „I got excited and that helped me run faster,'' she said.

Kenyan Chepkwony makes late move to win men's race

Kenyan Gilbert Chepkwony broke from a tightly clustered lead pack of seven runners with an aggressive sprint at Mile 22 to win the 2013 Honolulu Marathon in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 46 seconds. Chepkwony , 28, outkicked countryman and two-time Honolulu Marathon champion Nicholas Chelimo as the two battled along Kealaolu Avenue and up Diamond Head Road toward the finish.

Chelimo finished second at 2:19:21, followed by Soloman Busendich (2:19:39) of Kenya, Gebretsadik Abraha Adihana (2:20:09) of Ethiopia and Kiplimo Kimutai (2:20:24) of Kenya. Kenyan runners dominated the final leader board in the men’s race. But the story for most of the race was the stirring if ultimately doomed bid by unheralded Japanese runner Saeki Makino to become the race’s first Japanese men’s champion.

Makino, a training partner of Yuki Kawauchi, jumped to an early lead while Chepkwony and the rest of the pack held back. Makino stretched a 47-second advantage at Mile 4 to a lead of more than four minutes at Mile 18. In all, Makino raced virtually alone for nearly two hours. However, when the end came for the Japanese racer, it came quickly. Struggling mightily as he exited Kalanianaole Highway, Makino was overrun by the now-sprinting pack just before Mile 22.

While Makino fell back, Chepkwony burst to the lead with a powerful sprint. Chelimo attempted to stay with him but couldn’t keep pace as Chepkwony finished Mile 24 in 4:56 then the uphill climb to Mile 25 in 5:04. “I knew (Chelimo) was following me so I had to pull away,” Chepkwony said.

Afterward, a winded but beaming Chepkwony said he was “very happy” with his first-ever marathon victory.

Source: Honolulu Marathon