Lyau, Carpenter first in half-marathon
By Mike Tymn
Special to The Advertiser
After running a personal best marathon in Chicago last month and while preparing for the Honolulu Marathon next month, Jonathan Lyau was in no particular hurry in the annual Val Nolasco Memorial half-marathon yesterday morning.
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"I was just trying to do it at marathon pace," said Lyau, 37, after easily winning the race in 1 hour, 14 minutes, 33 seconds. "I pushed it for about two miles, just to see how the legs would respond, but I sort of relaxed after that."
Jonathan Lyau wins the men's race in 1:14:33.
Clint Sheeley, 35, was second in 1:16:15, and Andy Harris, 34, third in 1:16:29.
Finishing 24th overall, Yang Sun Carpenter, a 36-year-old military dependent from Korea, won the women's race in 1:28:41.
"I expected to run a little faster, but the wind was really strong on the way out," said Carpenter.
Two-time winner (1993, '95) Jeannie Wokasch, 39, was second in 1:29:57. Brigid O'Meara, 32, took third, another 1:21 back.
With 1,018 registered entrants, the 13.1-mile race got under way at Kapi'olani Park at 5:30. The course went through Kahala and out toward Hawai'i Kai on Kalaniana'ole Highway, where they turned around and headed back toward the park.
Lyau, Harris and Matt Stevens shared the lead for the first 18 miles.
"I took the lead on the downhill there," said Lyau, who ran 2:29:25 in the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7. "They didn't respond, so I just kept it going at a fairly easy pace after that."
Sheeley was some two minutes back at the turnaround, but caught Harris with less than a mile to go. Stevens reportedly dropped out with blisters.
Carpenter took command of the women's race at the start and was never threatened, while Wokasch pulled away from O'Meara on the return trip.
The race records of 1:07:12 by Farley Simon in 1982 and 1:20:06 by Wokasch in 1993 were never in jeopardy.
Reuben Dias, who set many local race records during the early 1970s, won the 55-59 division in 1:32:30. Now living in Florida, Dias was home for his father's funeral.
