By Mike Tymn
Special to The Advertiser
As Cheryl Smith and Sayuri Kusutani passed the mile mark together in the 24th annual Straub Hawai‘i's Women's 10K Run yesterday morning, it appeared to be a two-woman race.
But upon hearing her mile split of 5:49, Smith shifted gears and quickly left Kusutani, last month’s Great Aloha Run winner, in her wake.
"My plan was to do around 5:38 for the first mile," said Smith, a 20-year-old University of Hawai‘i junior and the school’s standout cross-country runner last season. "I forgot that half of it was uphill and was a little alarmed when I heard the time."
Averaging 5:42 per mile for the 6.2-mile event, Smith continued on to victory in 35 minutes, 26 seconds, some 500 yards ahead of Lisa Blomme, a Hawai‘i Pacific University junior from Sweden. Blomme, 23, clocked 37:14.
Cathy Wellman, a 32-year-old physical therapist from the Big Island, took third in 37:48.
Smith’s time was the fourth- fastest in the history of the race. Marty Shue set the record of 34:40 in 1998, breaking the long-standing record of 34:47, established by Cindy Dalrymple in 1981. Shue also won the ’99 race in 35:00.
The event got under way at 7 at Kapi‘olani Park with 1,325 registered runners and walkers. Kusutani, a 41-year-old English student from Japan, and Smith began pulling away from the field as they left the park and started the climb in front of Diamond Head.
Blomme, Wellman, Heather Jorris and Jodi Jackson formed a chase pack about 30 yards back as the leaders passed the mile mark near the Diamond Head lighthouse.
"It’s all over now," said Johnny Faerber, Smith’s coach observing from the lead vehicle, as Smith rapidly pulled away from Kusutani on the second mile.
Smith hit the two-mile mark in 11:30 with a lead of more than 100 yards. Kusutani pulled up at that point and rested momentarily before resuming the race and finishing ninth overall in 39:43.
"It was too stressful for me and I had an upset stomach," said Kusutani, who led the masters (40-over) field.
Reaching the half-way point in Kahala in 17:50, Smith had built up a lead of nearly 300 yards. "I was pushing it all the way," Smith responded, when asked if she relaxed at all after realizing the race was hers.
The time was a personal best for her, bettering a 35:47 previous best for the distance on the track.
The real race turned out to be for third place as Wellman, Jackson and Jorris matched strides on the return trip over Diamond Head.
"She looked like she was struggling," Jorris said of Wellman, "but obviously she still had a lot left." Wellman, second to Nina Christiansen last year, began easing away from Jackson and Jorris over the last half mile.
Christiansen, who recorded 36:26 in winning last year’s race and finished second to Kusutani in the Great Aloha Run, did not compete yesterday due to a foot injury.
Smith transferred to UH from State University of New York last year after UH added women’s track to its athletic program. Because the track season does not officially begin until April 7, she was cleared to participate in yesterday’s race.
"It really feels good to have someone who is dedicated and knows what it means to put in the miles in training," Faerber said of Smith. "She doesn't have a lot of speed, but she has the mental tenacity to just go out there and hammer from the start."
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