Pushing her two young children up and down West Hawaii’s Ali‘i Drive proved to be a productive training regimen for Rani Henderson.

Some 14 months after giving birth to her second child, Henderson earned top female kama‘aina honors on Sunday with a time of 3 hours, 5 minutes, 10 seconds.

“It was a little tough training for this one juggling two kids under 3,” said Henderson, a Konawaena graduate who lives in Keauhou. “Most of my training was pushing a double stroller with two of them in there. That’s a different type of training because they’re very heavy.”

Former Hawaii Pacific runner and Kailua resident Polina Carlson was the top resident female finisher at 2:55:17. She was the sixth female finisher overall a week after winning the XTerra Trail Run World Championship at Kualoa Ranch. Kathleen O’Neil of Honolulu came in 30 seconds after Carlson.

Henderson claimed the kama‘aina award for entrants born in Hawaii in 2014 and reclaimed it in her comeback race. Her training this year consisted primarily of 45- to 50-minute runs with her in the stroller and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

“I think that’s the best way. I go in without any expectations and my goal was just to find a good pace and stick to it as long as I could possibly hold on,” said Henderson, who came in 10th among females entrants.

“The main goal for our trip was just to have some family time off island, to go to the zoo and do some Christmas shopping. This is a bonus.”

Alplund, Enriques top Hawaii males

Training partners Jacob Alplund and Kevin Enriques discussed marathon racing strategies on Saturday night. Those racing plans unfolded wonderfully the following morning with Alplund claiming the Honolulu Marathon’s top local male honor and Enriques finishing as the top kama‘aina male for the second time.

Alplund, who hails from Sweden, finished in 2 hours, 43 minutes, 40 seconds and placed 26th among men. Enriques, a University Laboratory alum, finished in 2:58:40 and was 51st. Both ran cross country at Hawaii Pacific.

“The last four months we’ve been training together,” said Enriques, the top kama‘aina in 2010. “It makes a huge difference. We have a few days where we wake up 5:30 a.m., 5 a.m. where we run. When you’re doing that by yourself, that’s mentally so hard knowing you’re going to run 20 miles that morning. Running with someone makes a huge difference.”

Soejima, Tsuchida win 10th titles

Masazumi Soejima of Japan won his fourth straight and 10th overall men’s wheelchair title, finishing in 1:35:35. Kazuhiko Shimada of Japan was second in 1:45:11. Honolulu’s John Greer finished in 2:37:23.

Wakako Tsuchida of Japan won her 10th women’s wheelchair title by finishing in 1:50:42. Honolulu’s Dawna Zane finished in 3:16:49.

Arciniaga goes from trail to road

Arizona’s Nick Arciniaga, runner-up at last Sunday’s Xterra Trail Run World Championship at Kualoa Ranch, finished seventh at the Honolulu Marathon in 2:24:32. Former BYU-Hawaii runner Thomas Puzey of Arizona was seventh at Xterra and sixth in the marathon in 2:23:59.

Mainstays extend streak

Jerold Chun and Gary Dill completed their 44th Honolulu Marathon to maintain their streaks as the only entrants to participate in the event every year since its inception in 1973.

Chun made his annual return from La Jolla, Calif., to finish in 5:00:54. Dill finished in 7:28:11 in the men’s 70-74 division.

Carson does double duty

Hamish Carson, a 3:56 miler from New Zealand, was invited to compete in the inaugural Merrie Mile on Saturday. He did so, running it in 4:09.

The impressive part came Sunday, when Carson, 28, completed his first marathon in 2:27:21, finishing ninth.

Carson hadn’t planned on running the marathon here. He said he only did 26.2 miles because his coach had him scheduled for a 35K training run and he figured he might as well just do the extra 5,000 meters or so to cross the finish line.