‘Chase’ adds intrigue to race

Got Chase?

Got chance.

A very good chance to win part of the $11,000 purse, including $5,000 for finishing first overall

Male OR female, professional or not.

Sunday’s inaugural Hapalua Half Marathon features a race within a race, with "The Chase." Two-time defending Honolulu Marathon champion Nicholas Chelimo and six-time winner Jimmy Muindi — both professional runners from Kenya — will "chase" a field of 24 of Hawaii’s best runners (12 men and 12 women) from the Duke Kahanamoku start line in Waikiki for 13.1 miles, finishing at Kapiolani Park.

The Kenyans will take off with the main pack, estimated at 3,500, at 6 a.m.

The Team Hawaii women start at 5:42 a.m., with an 18-minute head start. The Team Hawaii men 9 minutes later, and "a female could very well win this," team captain Jonathan Lyau said.

"We set it up so it should be an exciting finish. Coming down the last stretch, you should have the professionals, the top female and a couple of the guys at the same time. My chance? I’m the oldest guy out there (age 47). I don’t have a shot."

But Lyau thinks several Team Hawaii members do. He was part of the committee that selected the 24, based on race times from the last couple of years ranging from 10Ks to half and full marathons.

The women with the best chance at finishing first overall are the Big Island’s Bree Wee, the top woman in last year’s Kona Half (1 hour, 20 minutes) and University of Hawaii doctoral candidate Cindy Anderson, who was the overall winner of last year’s Windward Half (1:23).

"I think it’s really exciting for local runners to run against world-class runners, and for local runners to have a chance to possibly win," said the 28-year-old Anderson, who is working on her Ph.D. in molecular biology. "The Windward Half was a nice course, very flat. This course is really flat until the last 5 miles.

"Sunday, we have a great women’s field, a great men’s field, and world-class runners. I think that last mile or 2 will be very exciting."

But will an 18-minute head start — or even 9 for the men — be enough? Chelimo’s PR is 1:02:25 from three years ago, Muindi’s is 1:01:33 turned in 16 years ago.

Do the math. Race director J.J. Johnson said they did when trying to get the perfect handicap times.

"It being the first time, we had mathematicians crunch the numbers," Johnson said. "Eighteen minutes might seem like a lot, but when you’re talking about world class at 1:02 and local females at 1:20, 18 minutes is not that much.

"It’s 13.1 miles, anything can happen, anything can be a game-changer. It’s up to the Kenyans not to let it get into their heads. There’s going to be a lot of strategy involved. But wouldn’t it be awesome if it’s the Kenyans and one of the females at the end? It would be historic."

The race is the brainchild of Honolulu Marathon president Jim Barahal and is believed to be the first of its kind designed to be a companion event to an established marathon.

The Hapalua also has several other components, including a team relay race of seven laps around Kapiolani Park. There is also a fundraising element through Crowdrise.com.

St. Andrew’s Priory, which has half marathoners and a relay team entered, has $3,600 in donations already pledged through the site.

"There’s a small group of us from the school that’s been training since January," said Jennifer Wargo Grems, the 1987 state champion at 3,200 from Priory, where she is now the upper school director. "The half marathon is a very doable distance for a recreational runner. We dedicated an hour after school every Tuesday and Thursday, and we’ve had a lot of fun doing it.

"There’s nothing like a good, long run. I hope the Hapalua takes root, is even bigger next year, and the start of an annual tradition."

CORRECTION: The main pack of runners starts at 6 a.m. and Team Hawaii women start at 5:52. An earlier version of this story had different times.