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Marathon likely to see fewer entrants
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
 
Barring a last-minute surge, today’s 35th anniversary Honolulu Marathon probably will post its lowest number of entrants in three years.

The race, the third largest in the world last year, gets under way at 5 a.m. from Ala Moana boulevard.

As of Friday night, 27,394 runners had signed up for the 26.2-mile event, including 16,784 from Japan, 7,997 from Hawai’i, 2,033 from the Mainland and 780 from foreign countries other than Japan.

Nearly 13,000 runners will be attempting their first marathon.

Last year, 28,637 people entered the race and 24,575 completed it. In 2005, 28,048 entered and 24,295 finished.

Registration closed yesterday at 5 p.m. and final figures weren’t available last night.

Honolulu Marathon Association president Dr. Jim Barahal earlier expressed concern over weather conditions on race day.

According to the National Weather Service, runners can expect a partly sunny day with scattered showers, temperatures ranging from 75 to 80 degrees. Winds are forecast to be 10 mph or less.

While the forecast likely bodes well for middle- to back-of-the-pack runners, who might take anywhere from five to 13 hours to complete the course, continued showers could mean a slower finish for elite runners.

The Honolulu Marathon is considered a slower course because of its hills and the typically warm weather conditions.

That doesn’t matter to defending champion Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia.

“I can’t do anything about it, so I’ll keep fighting,” Tolossa said via an interpreter. “Whether it’s slippery or raining, it doesn’t matter. I’m here to improve my time.”

Tolossa’s main rival is likely to be five-time Honolulu Marathon champion Jimmy Muindi of Kenya, who finished second last year. Like Tolossa, Muindi, 34, is seeking to rebound from a disappointing year of competition.

Tolossa, 30, is also mindful of the other Kenyans who make up the elite men’s field.

“Muindi is one but everybody, when they come to America, thinks they can win,” Tolossa said. “Sometimes it’s the person you don’t think will win is the one who wins.”

On the women’s side, Russia’s Alevtina Biktimirova, 25, will look to improve on her second-place finish of last year.

However, many around the race are convinced that fellow Russian Tatyana Petrova, 24, who finished fifth here in 2004, has a good shot at pulling off an upset.

There’s much at stake. The first-place male and female finishers each get $40,000. Second- through fifth-place finishers get $16,000, $10,000, $6,000, and $3,000, respectively. There are also numerous cash incentives tied to finishing times, including $15,000 for breaking the existing records (2:11:12 for men; 2:27:19 for women).

The top three men and women finishers will be tested for performance-enhancing drugs following the race.

Last year’s women’s champion, Lyubov Denisova, tested positive for elevated testosterone in a random test by the World Anti-Doping Agency three months after last year’s race, and was banned from competing for two years.