Campbell wins fourth consecutive Great Aloha Run

At the end of the first mile, it appeared that Malcolm Campbell's string of victories in the annual Great Aloha Run was in real jeopardy yesterday.

Malcolm Campbell was first to finish the 8.15-mile course, in 40:30. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Ji-Hong Min, one of three Korean runners forming a lead pack with Campbell, surged to the lead by several strides. The other two Korean runners seemed to be running well, too.

"Chances are that one of the Koreans is going to get him," said Johnny Faerber, University of Hawai‘i cross-country coach, riding on the media truck in front of the runners.

But at the end of the 8.15-mile race from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium, Campbell was all alone, winning the event for the fourth consecutive year while clocking 40 minutes, 30 seconds.

"My biggest concern was the humidity," said Campbell, a 30-year-old native of Scotland who lives in Atlanta, Ga., where he works as a computer technician. "As soon as I got up this morning, I checked the weather and found out the humidity was 85 percent. I'm not used to that, but, as it turned out, it didn't seem to bother me all that much."

Sung-Woon Lee of Korea finished second in 41:26, followed by Keun-Hyung Cho, also of Korea, in 42:22. Jonathan Lyau, winner of the 1994 race, overtook Min for fourth and was the first Hawai‘i finisher. He recorded 42:44.

Sayori Kusutani, a 41-year-old resident of Mie, Japan, won the women's race in 49:01, 36 seconds ahead of Nina Christiansen, a Hawai‘i Pacific University runner from Denmark. Yang-Sun Carpenter of Hawai‘i was third, another 34 seconds back.

"I have had a cold the past few days and was not very sure of myself at the start," said Kusutani, who teaches English in Japan and is attending a four-month English class in Honolulu.

With 19,967 registered runners and walkers, the race got under way at 6:59 in the morning. The "Sounds of Freedom," military units double-timing in formation, started 10 minutes earlier. Christian Friis, another HPU runner, immediately went to the lead with Campbell and the three Koreans right behind. Campbell took command about a half-mile into the race as Friis fell back. Campbell and the three Koreans reached the mile mark in 4:51. That's when Min surged ahead.

"I pushed it hard after that," Campbell said. "The last thing you want to do is get caught up in a pack of runners from the same country and have them gang up on you. As it was, we were all clipping each other, not intentionally. It was just a bit too tight for me."

Campbell reached the second mile marker in 9:25 with Lee and Cho right behind him. The surge apparently took something out of Min, as he began falling behind midway into the second mile. Cho began struggling on the third mile, leaving only Lee to challenge Campbell.

Near the end of the third mile, Campbell again surged. Lee did not respond, and it soon became clear that Campbell would continue on to victory.

"He looks like a young Gerry Lindgren, real smooth and effortless," Faerber said. Lindgren, a 1964 Olympian and once considered by some the best distance runner in the world, now lives in Hawai‘i and was in the race. Lindgren, 54, finished in around 52 minutes.

According to Stan Im, local Korean delegate, the three Korean runners are students at Konkuk University in Seoul. They decided to run here as part of their training for the Donga Marathon in Seoul next month.

"Their coach told me that they did not have enough speed training for this race," Im said. "They were expecting Campbell to come back to them after around 10K (6.2 miles), but he was stronger than they thought."

Japan's Sayori Kusutani, here for a four-month English course, won the women's race in 49:01. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kusutani took the lead early in the women's race and was never challenged as Christiansen had a change in tactics.

"I went out too fast last year and got burned," said Christiansen, second to Heather Jorris last year. "This year I went out very slow and was never close enough to her (Kusutani) to even think about trying to catch her. After six miles I knew there was no chance."

Kusutani, being tutored by Faerber and his assistants during her stay in Hawai‘i, took up running just three years ago. "I was a tennis player and did some running as part of the training," she said. "I still prefer tennis to running."

After recording a 2:40:05 marathon in Berlin last September, Kusutani backed off her training. "I have not done much training for this race," she said.

"She floats like a feather," said Faerber. "Even though she's 41, her legs are still young. I think she's going to give Cheryl (Smith) a real run for it in the (Straub) Women's 10K (on March 4)." Smith is Faerber's top runner at UH.

Top male finishers: 1, Malcolm Campbell 40:30. 2, Sung-Woon Lee 41:26. 3, Keun-Hyung Cho 42:22. 4, Jonathan Lyau 42:44. 5, Ji-Hong Min 43:17. 6, Christian Friis 43:42. 7, Farley Simon 44:20. 8, Gerardo Avila 44:26. 9, Chris Tang 45:33. 10, Richard Trevino 45:49.

Top female finishers: 1, Sayori Kusutani 49:01. 2, Nina Christiansen 49:37. 3, Yang-Sun Carpenter 50:11. 4, Brooke Babbitt 50:32. 5, Heather Jorris 50:56. 6, Rani Tanimoto 51:25. 7, Monique Mata 52:15. 8, Christal Cuardra 52:40. 9, Deirdre Tennant 53:14. 10, Serene Goodpaster 53:38.

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