Macdonald tops elite field

Chase and be chased. And be chased down.

It’s the premise of The Chase portion of The Hapalua, a handicapped 13.1-mile run that starts and finishes in Waikiki. Hawaii’s version of Hares and Hounds carries with it bragging rights and an $11,000 purse split among the top 10 finishers.

The ultimate goal? For Jonathan Lyau, who does the handicaps for Team Hawaii and the three elite Kenyan pros, it’s to have as many of the top 27 runners as possible battling it out down the last quarter-mile stretch to the Kapiolani Park finish line.

Lyau was on the money with the handicaps — but out of the money when finishing 13th Sunday. Led by Eri Macdonald’s historic victory, the top four finishers were within 94 seconds of each other with Macdonald — the first female to win in the race’s three-year history, pulling away over the final mile.

Macdonald, with a 21-minute head start over Chase males Peter Kirui and Patrick Makau, finished in a handicapped time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 21 seconds. The 33-year-old Honolulu attorney and four-time state high school cross country champion out of Punahou School, was 29 seconds ahead of Keauhou-Kona’s Rani Tanimoto Henderson, 38, who also had a 21-minute head start.

The 24-year-old Kirui, in the 6 a.m. mass start in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue with 4,500 others, closed fast in 1:06:34 for third. It was well off the Kenyan’s personal best of 59.22 set eight days ago in the Hervis Prague Half-Marathon; his handicap was that he couldn’t arrive in Honolulu until late Thursday due to a damaged passport.

"It was a lot of fun for the most part, more fun than I expected," said Macdonald, nearly 15 minutes faster than her non-handicap time in 2012. "It never occurred to me about the money ($5,000 for first place). It was fun towards the end.

"I took the lead (from Henderson) right around Triangle Park. The tough part about this course is the finish. Coming down Diamond Head was tough. The conditions were very similar to two years ago."

Unlike last year, with a torrential downpour at the start and steady rain throughout, runners were faced with sprinkles and blustery crosswinds and headwinds. It bothered former Kenyan Olympian Isabella Ochichi somewhat, particularly coming down Diamond Head Road to the finish, but the first female "Chaser" was pleased with her fourth-place finish (1:10:34, 4:30 head start).

"The downhill was not nice, but I liked the straightway at the end," said Ochichi, who will make her Honolulu Marathon debut in December as an invited runner. "It was my first time here and gave me knowledge for when I come back (in December).

"It was a little windy, some parts more than others, but I enjoyed the scenery, seeing the ocean, the big moon before the start."

Some may have seen a little more of Ochichi than expected. The 34-year-old had taken a long warm-up run on Kalakaua. She nearly missed her starting group and quickly tossed off her warmup jacket, trading it for her racing top.

Ochichi, hoping to make the 2016 Olympic team for Kenya in the marathon, smiled and shrugged it off, saying, "I was not late."

The race took on an early Mother’s Day vibe among the top finishers, some who are still nursing. Henderson missed last year’s Hapalua due to her baby shower; son Cole was born just over 12 months ago on March 30.

"I thought the conditions were better than two years ago," Henderson said. "The crosswinds kept it nice and cool. And the little bit of money ($2,500) is icing on the cake."

Without the handicap, Ochichi would have placed second overall in 1:10.24, less than five minutes behind Kirui, and earned more than her $750 for fourth. She was out of competitive running for seven years due to injuries and the birth of her son, Pardon, some three years ago.

Cindy Anderson, sixth with a handicapped 1:06:49, had her son Callan five months ago. The 30-year-old’s "real" time was 1:24:19, which beat the 1:25 that she had hoped to do.

"I was a little slower than two years ago," said Anderson, the first woman to win a mixed-gender race in Hawaii in the 2011 Windward Half-Marathon. "Feel better, paced myself better.

"I only run twice a week, so I feel good about today."

Former Hawaii Pacific runner Polina Babkina Carlson, 25, finished between Ochichi and Anderson in 1:06:24, earning $500.

Makau, off with Kirui at 6 a.m., ran with his countryman for most of the race and were stride-for-stride at the 14K mark at Monsarrat and Kalakaua some 66 minutes into the race. Makau, the former marathon world record holder, had fallen back around Triangle Park (the 20K mark) and finished 15th in 1:09:31.

"Overall, I was happy how the handicaps worked out," said Lyau, finishing in a real-time 1:19:32 (1:08:31). "Ochichi almost caught everyone.

"She was really fast. She passed me going up Diamond Head and I couldn’t do anything about it."