After Ethiopia’s Asefa Mengstu (2:14:40) and Asayech Ayalew (2:30:58) broke Kenya’s 14-year lock on the Honolulu Marathon victory stand at last year‘s golden anniversary race, two Kenyan athletes returned their country’s flag to its traditional position atop the Honolulu leaderboard today as the event entered its second half century. 

Paul Lonyangata, 2:15:42, and Cynthia Limo, 2:33:01, overcame challenging conditions, and determined challengers to win the 51st running of the Honolulu Marathon. They each took home $25,000 in first prize money and the unique solid gold winners’ medal valued at $15,000. 

It was a welcome return to the islands for the 30 year-old Lonyangata, who finished second here in 2014 as a 21-year-old. He and countryman, Reuben Kerio, who was second here in 2018, as well as a pacesetter in 2017 and 2022, had the most experience on the challenging 42.2 km layout. But experience only matters when it is attended by current fitness.

Honolulu rookie and race pacesetter Dickson Chumba of Kenya lit out from the starting line beneath the spectacular opening fireworks display like a bottle rocket. With temperatures in the mid 70s Fahrenheit, humidity hovering above 80%, the first kilometer evaporated in 3:02 and the first 5K in 15:17. 

In these days of history making results rewriting the record book on what seems a weekly basis, those splits may not seem like anything to crow about. But under these conditions, it was definitely a spirited beginning, 2:09-flat marathon pace. Now consider, there have only been two such times ever in the history of this event. Perhaps the message got through, because Chumba began backing off from there. 

Though not deep, the elite field was well-matched with five men in the hunt: two from Kenya, two from Eritrea, and one from Ethiopia.

They passed through the brightly lit Waikiki Beach area at 10 kilometers in 30:25 (15:08 5K), before beginning the climb over Diamond Head hill, which they will have to climb again at the 40K as a final test before the finish in Kapiolani Park.

The 15K split of 46:50 (16:25 5K) showed the effect of Diamond Head hill.

Then, out along the still darkened Kalanianeole Highway from miles 11 to 15 into brisk trade headwinds to the Hawaii Kai turnaround, pacer Chumba decided to call it a day. He pulled off the course before the turn into Hawaii Kai at 25K. When he did, #4 Paul Lonyangata and #5 Abayneh Degu, 25, of Ethiopia, broke free of #2 Tsegay Weldibanos and #1 Filmon Ande of Eritrea.

Both Eritrean men had more than the marathon on their mind, however. Each man is seeking political asylum in the United States and are awaiting instructions from the US government as to their status. They will be heading to Flagstaff, Arizona, after their stay on the islands. 

At 30K, five kilometers after the pacer departed, The angular, orange-clad Lonyangata made his big push. Nine years ago he came to Honolulu as a brash 21-year-old and finished second in 2:16:04. 

In the intervening years, Lonyangata won back to back Paris Marathons in 2017 and 2018, and was third in 2019. But one week after the 2019 race, he admitted to using the banned substance Furosemide, after it was found in an out-of-competition sample in September. Furosemide is a heart medication, but it is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances because it can mask the presence of performance-enhancing drugs. He served a 19-month suspension, returning to competition earlier this year.

This October 29th, he finished second at the Changsha Marathon in China in 2:09:49. After a one week recovery, he went right back to training with Honolulu on the near horizon. Such is the new world order as designed by the super shoes that allow for less physical deterioration during and quicker recovery after a marathon. 

By 20 miles, Lonyangata had built a 25-second advantage, but he kept glancing over his shoulder, as if unsure of his final disposition. By 35K entering Kahala, Filmon Ande of Eritrea had moved into second place and the Lonyangata lead was down to 12 seconds. It wasn’t quite over as Diamond Head loomed up ahead!

The women’s pro field was even more compact than the men’s, with just three in number. 

Cynthia Limo of Kenya was running in her debut marathon. She would be challenged by Ethiopians F2 Sintatehu Getahun, and F3 Kazu Lemeneh, whose best was run in Madrid last year at 2:26:18. Getahun’s best was also set last year in Milan, Italy at 2:22:19.

The early pace was more in line with the warm, humid conditions, a modest 2:33 pace through 15K and 1:16:43 at halfway out along Kalanianeole Highway with top Hawaiian resident, Jeremy Morgan, # 1547, shirtless, leading the way for the women. 

Cynthia Limo was one of the world’s top women runners in the mid 20 teens. In 2016, she won the silver medal in Cardiff, Wales, in the World Half Marathon Championship. After that, she took time off to begin her family. But when her first daughter, Blessed, died before her second birthday, having suffered from spina bifida at birth, the passing threw Cynthia into a prolonged depression. She disappeared from the racing scene for several years. 

She returned last year in November and has been racing solidly since, basing herself in East Lansing, Michigan while racing in the United States, which is where her coach and mentor Owen Anderson lives. Sadly, Owen had been battling cancer and passed away recently on November 26th at the age of 76. Before he passed, however, he wanted Cynthia to run a marathon before the end of the year. 

With that motivation, and the memory of her daughter, Blessed, Ms. Limo waited until 35K as the course turned into the Kahala neighborhood for the long upgrade past Triangle Park to make her move.

Ethiopia’s Kazu Lemeneh had given way earlier, after 30K (1:50:03). Countrywoman Sintatehu Getahun gave up the ghost when Limo surged at 35K. 

The final 7K was a coronation parade for the 33-year-old mother of two (Anne, age 4; and Rebekah, age 2). Cynthia’s finishing time wasn’t special, 2:33:01, but after the sadnesses of recent times, the victory in her debut marathon was sweet, indeed. 

Paul Lonyangata knew he was being challenged as his 25-second lead shrank to near 10. But he regained his stride going up Diamond Head to 40K as thousands of outbound runners cheered him on as they continued outbound at 13K.

He maintained his winning margin, crossing the Kapiolani Park finish line in 2:15:42, 19-second ahead of Filmon Ande. Kenya’s Reuben Kerio finished third in 2:17:32. 

In all, 29,836 runners completed one of the weekend’s three events: Saturday’s Kalakaua Merrie Mile (2676), the Start to Park 10K (7982), and the full marathon (19,178). 

According to Honolulu Marathon president, Jim Barahal, the Marathon has outpaced Hawaii tourism in its drawing power, as overall visitors are down 50% from pre-Covid levels.

 “We are back up to nearly 10,000 Japanese runners,“ said Barahal in the VIP tent. “That’s about two-thirds of the way back to our pre-Covid levels.”

Running is such an addictive activity, that when someone gets injured and can’t run, it becomes a major issue in their life. Well, COVID-19 was like a serious injury to the entire road racing industry, shutting races down everywhere. 

The Honolulu Marathon lost the 2020 race to Covid. That was bad enough. But when the Hawaiian governor wouldn’t open the islands to tourism in 2021, either, it represented another huge financial blow to the marathon. 

But just like how it takes runners time to recover from injury, so, too, for events. But Honolulu is a special place. Not just for the native Hawaiians and other Americans, but for the Japanese marathon community, too.  The growth of the 2023 Honolulu Marathon showed the event is well on its way to a full recovery.

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