After hot surge, Kimaiyo disappears like cool breeze to win 24th Honolulu Marathon
By Timothy Carlson

Eric Kimaiyo dominated with a late-race surge

When the day was done, five very fine racers took off with a tail wind at mile 16 and made a decidedly unusual-for-tropical-Honolulu late-race surge at a scorching 4:50 pace for 8 miles. One by one, three-time Honolulu champion Benson Masya of Kenya, Thabiso Moqhali of South Africa, Kim Yi Yong of Korea, and finally Jimmy Muindi of Kenya dropped off until only one was left. The one who made the breakthrough--the latest to follow in the footsteps of Josiah Thungwane, Bong Ju Lee, Ibrahim Hussein, and Cosmas Ndeti as Honolulu runners who went on to marathon superstardom--was a very fast man who finally learned patience.

Eric Kimaiyo saved his best for last and ran the final 10 kilometers in 30:12, coolly holding off a strong counterattack in the final mile from Muindi to win by 14 seconds in 2:13:23, just six seconds off the course record and a possible $5,000 bonus to be added to his $20,000 first prize. Muindi, whose road-racing prowess has overshadowed his modest marathon accomplishments--his best was a 2:16 for second place at Honolulu last year--was dropped by about 50 meters going up Diamond Head with two miles to go. Muindi then made a final run for glory on the downhill.

"Some runners are naturally gifted on downhills," said commentator and 1972 Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter. "And Muindi is like Bill Rodgers and Cosmas Ndeti in that respect."

Muindi closed the gap back to a mere 15 meters when he reached the flats of Kapiolani Park with just half a mile to go. But there was to be no heart-stopping anxiety this day. Kimaiyo, who never looked back, stretched it out to 80 meters by the finish line.

"I fear no one," smiled Kimaiyo. "I train with Moses Tanui and even if he reaches my shoulder I can always find more speed. Now I think I can win any race in the world." Kimaiyo's previous best was a second place in 2:10:47 at the 1995 Tokyo International Marathon.

"Before today, he was not sure he could be a top marathoner," his coach said. "Now he is sure."

In the old days, when he was a hot-blooded youth with impatient strides, racing and training with the legends high in the mountains of Kenya, Kimaiyo might have made the same mistake. But today, he just let his younger countryman Lazarus Nyakeraka learn his own lesson on mile 15 of the Honolulu International Marathon.

"Kimaiyo’s problem was that he always wanted to go hard in every practice, to lead every workout--he wanted to be the rabbit." said his coach, the famed silver-haired fox, Gabriel Rosa of Italy, the man who has guided current Boston champion Moses Tanui and other top Kenyan runners. "I told him today he had to forget a fast time because it was not possible. He had to run a quiet race and have patience. Then he could find himself on another level."

With the impetuous heedlessness of youth, Nyakeraka, a 21-year-old rookie marathoner with a 27:44 road 10K under his belt, told reporters before the race. "I can win." He also said also said he could run a 2:06. Sages like 1972 Olympic Marathon champion Frank Shorter laughed, because they knew Honolulu is famous for having too much heat to go really fast--and the world-record time of 2:06:50 has lasted for eight years for a reason. "Sure enough," Shorter said, "at mile 15, Nyakeraka took off like a shot."

The move, made into the last mile of a stiff, gusty head wind that had the wiser heads in the lead pack of 10 waiting for the turnaround, was short-lived. He found himself out of gas in the very next mile while rounding back to town in suburban Hawaii Kai, and he dropped off the leader board like a shot. Eventually the brash young star was served up a humbling lesson that will last far longer than mere words: He finished at 2:35:00 in 28th place, passed at the end by women’s winner, Ramila Burangulova.

"Young marathoners have to find out if they like the distance," Shorter said. "Today, he got impatient at 15 miles and paid the price. He ran 1:08 and came in at 1:27 and I think he now has respect for the distance."

Rosa, a handler of champions, noted of Nyakeraka, "With many young Kenyan runners, the problem is psychological. They don’t like marathon. They think only the older, slower runners do the marathon and they are not willing to do the long training."

Rosa, who reigns over an empire of distance runners for the Fila sports clothing line, carefully steered Kimaiyo away from the challenge of New York this fall, encouraging him to take three months to recover fully from recent knee problems stemming from his overenthusiastic training regimen before attempting hard training in the 10,000-foot Kenya mountains.

"We decided to come here to test him. Everybody knows it is not fast but it is famous, and a winner here can race very hard. Also, a win here is very good for Eric and Fila," Rosa said.

The men’s speed battle in the wind-aided last half overshadowed a women’s race won by 35-year-old Russian veteran Burangulova, 35, who fell off course-record pace in the last five miles even as she left behind three challengers to finish in 2:34:28.

Ramila Burangulova beat the heat in Honolulu after wilting in Atlanta

"I got confidence from this win," Burangulova said. "I am not sure, but I think now I can win Boston or New York."

Burangulova, who faded to 35th in the heat at the Atlanta Olympics, was particularly grateful for the day's 68-degree weather.

"It would have been much more difficult for me to win today if not for the weather," she said.

Of all the day’s competitors, she played her cards best in avoiding the energy-sapping qualities of the head winds heading out to Hawaii Kai at the 16-mile mark, ducking behind the lead pack whenever possible.

"Today the wind helped me," she said. "My tactic was to stay behind the other athletes on the way out and it worked."

Burangulova faced stubborn opposition from Aniela Nikiel of Poland and late entry Mari Tanigawa of Japan, who both fell back on the climb up Diamond Head in the 25th mile. But her toughest opponent was fellow Russian Svetlana Vasilyeva, 26, who trained with Burangulova in Gainesville, Florida.

Vasilyeva arrived in the U.S. early in 1996, and set course records of 2:36 at the Austin Marathon and 2:40 in the extremely hilly Big Sur Marathon. Vasilyeva was 1 minute, 8 seconds back of Burangulova at the wire. Eight-time champion Carla Beurskens of the Netherlands ran with the lead pack until mile 17 when she fell back after a one-minute bathroom stop.

"I was disappointed because I felt so strong today," Beurskens said. "But I had a strange feeling in my stomach and I had to stop." She pushed hard and caught South Korean runner Oh Mi Ja for fifth, but had to settle for a 2:38:19, three and a half minutes back of the winner. Beurskens consoled herself with her victory--by an astounding 24 minutes--in the Masters category.

Timothy Carlson is a frequent contributor to Outside Online.