Injury aside, Carlson finishes 19th, leads Hawaii finishers

Nate Carlson’s placement matched his bib number as the first Hawaii resident to finish Sunday’s Honolulu Marathon.

Carlson, wearing No. 19, finished 19th overall with a time of 2 hours, 36 minutes, 58 seconds to claim top male resident honors for a second straight year.

An Achilles injury kept Carlson, a Kailua resident and a physical therapist at Tripler Army Medical Center, from running for five months. But he felt strong while helping his wife, Polina, train for last week’s California International Marathon in Sacramento, Calif., where she finished in a personal best 2:35:41.

"I only decided to run the race a month ago," Carlson said. "I was just training my wife … and I could stick with her and I had a really good training session and I stayed healthy."

Carlson completed last year’s race despite a strained hamstring and beat his goal of finishing under 2:38.

"I was just grateful to run," Carlson said. "It was way more fun because last year every step was pain and this time I felt smooth, I didn’t really tighten up until the last 4 miles."

Kathleen O’Neill of Honolulu was the first female resident to cross the finish line at 3:03:39.

Matthew Holton of Kula was the top kamaaina male finisher at 43rd overall with a time of 2:49:52. Rani Henderson of Keauhou was the top female kamaaina at 3:06:09.

Chun and Dill now 42-for-42

Dr. Jerold Chun and Gary Dill maintained their streaks of running in every Honolulu Marathon since its inception in 1973.

Chun finished his 42nd run in 5:51:27. Dill came in at 7:03:40.

Fab 50 for Lyau

Jonathan Lyau, a 2009 inductee into the Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame, finished in 2:57:56 to give him sub-three-hour finishes in five decades.

He began running the Honolulu Marathon in his teens and was a 17-time kamaaina winner. He returned to run after turning 50 this year and was first in the men’s 50-54 age group while turning in his 30th sub-three-hour finish.

Business slow for medics

A steady drizzle and lower-than-usual temperatures and humidity led to significantly fewer marathoners needing medical attention this year.

Six hours after the start, with more than half of the field off the course, emergency responders were expecting less than half of the more than 100 calls of last year.

"In weather like this some people might push themselves harder and it can work the other way, but overall it’s way down," said Danny Kao, who oversees the medical tents.

At 11 a.m., with rain and clouds still covering the course, Kao said there were no reports of heat-related ailments.

Marathon president Jim Barahal said it was "one of the lightest days ever" for medical attention in the 42-year history of the event.

"It’s a little bit cold in addition to the rain and clouds," Barahal said. "And a major cause of medical situations is heat-related."

Makino makes another push

Just as he did last year, Saeki Makino of Japan broke out to a fast start and held the lead onto Kalanianaole Highway.

While Makino surprisingly maintained the lead through the Hawaii Kai loop last year, the pack of professionals engulfed him far earlier on Sunday, passing him in the 16th mile. Makino dropped back and finished 23rd overall at 2:41:13.

Entry numbers slightly down

There were 30,434 entrants for this year’s marathon, a slight drop from last year’s figure of 31,579. Japanese runners totaled 13,454, or 44 percent of race entries. There were 14,211 Japanese entrants last year. Including race walk entrants, the total marathon entry figure is 33,428. Of that number, 22,068 started the race.

Michigan coach runs first marathon

Michigan cross country coach Kevin Sullivan didn’t arrive in Honolulu planning to run his first marathon.

But since he was in town visiting with some of the race’s officials, "I figured, ‘I’m out here, I might as well run,’ " Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he runs about 50 miles per week and decided to enter the race on Thursday. Wearing blue and gold Michigan gear, he won the men’s 40-44 age group and finished 22nd overall at 2:40:22, giving him an experience to take back to Ann Arbor, Mich.

"My athletes can run a lot faster than that," said Sullivan, who was named Michigan’s cross country coach in July, "but it’s something to shoot for."