Girma wins first marathon

Ethiopia’s Woynishet Girma took care of a couple of notable firsts on Sunday.

The 25-year-old competed in her first Honolulu Marathon and also picked up her first marathon victory.

Girma made her move over the final 2 miles and finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 41 seconds. Misiker Mekonnin Demissie, of Albuquerque, N.M., finished second in 2:31:53 and Russia’s Valentina Galimova placed third in 2:31:55.

"I am happy that I won my first marathon in Honolulu," Girma said through interpreter Zerau Kelele. "I will come back and make (my time) better than this."

Girma, Demissie and Galimova separated themselves from a pack of six women at the 22nd mile. On mile 24, Girma took a 15-yard lead. She doubled it by the time they reached the final mile, which is up and down Diamond Head Road. Girma opened up a huge lead going up the hill, and was on cruise control going down the hill and on the final straightway. Her largest lead was 60 yards.

"I am not scared because I was doing my training charging hills. It wasn’t going to surprise me," Girma said. "When I was charging on the hill, when the runners fell back, I felt at that time I would win the race."

Girma ran the final 2 miles side-by-side with male competitor Thomas Puzey of Laie. The pack of women ran single file behind Puzey for most of the race.

Demissie and Galimova knew they were pretty much fighting for second place when they saw Girma pull away.

"After the hill, on the downhill, my legs were tired," said Demissie, who is originally from Ethiopia and has been living in Albuquerque for four years.

Galimova, through interpreter Andrey Baranov, said: "I tried to catch her on the downhill, but I couldn’t catch her. She was too strong."

Defending champion Belainesh Gebre, of Ethiopia, dropped out of sight of the lead pack at the 22nd mile.

Kenya’s Emmah Muthoni placed fourth in 2:32:38 and Russia’s Svetlana Zakharova finished fifth in 2:33:17. Zakharova hadn’t finished lower than second in her nine previous Honolulu Marathons. Eri Okubo of Japan was sixth in 2:34:09, with the next finisher more than 10 minutes behind.

Girma earned $40,000 for the race victory and an additional $3,000 in time bonuses (sub-2:33:00). Her previous best marathon finish was runner-up in Amsterdam in 2009.

Girma had to adjust to Sunday’s 5 a.m. start time.

"It’s my first time running the Honolulu Marathon and it is a little different because the other races are run when it’s bright and this is run in the dark," Girma said.

Conditions were cold and windy with wet roadways caused by heavy rain the previous night. The course record is 2:27:19.

"We prepared for the hot and humid weather in Portugal, but it was not that hot or humid," Galimova said. "The weather conditions were perfect."