Harris, Ardoin ease to Tamanaha titles

By Mike Tymn
Special to The Advertiser

In winning the 25th annual Norman Tamanaha Memorial 15K yesterday morning, Andy Harris had to deal with the humidity more than the competition.

"It was a bit warm out there," said Harris, a 34-year-old University of Hawai'i volcanologist from England, after finishing the 9.3-mile event in 53 minutes, 23 seconds, the slowest winning time in the history of the race.

Finishing 15th overall, Heather Ardoin, a 31-year-old physical therapist, captured the women's race in 1:03:54, also the slowest women's winning time since the inaugural race in 1978.

"The humidity took a lot out of me, but it was quite a surprise to win," said Ardoin, who moved to O'ahu from New Orleans last year.

With 223 starters, the event, named in honor of Hawai'i's "father of running," got underway at 6 a.m. at Kapi'olani Park. Louis Tomsic was the early leader, but Harris took command before the end of the first mile. Five kilometers into the race, he had built a lead of about a minute on Gary Nettles and Michael Georgi.

The race was for second place, as Craig Knohl joined Georgi and Nettles on the fourth mile. Nettles began to fall behind on the return trip from Kahala to the park, while Knohl and Georgi matched strides.

Knohl, 42, pulled away from Georgi, 49, on the final mile, taking the runner-up spot in 56:24. Georgi finished another 10 seconds behind.

Ardoin took the lead in the women's race at the start and was never threatened. "I was closing on her until the turnaround, but after that she pulled way ahead," said Tammy Agader, 26, who finished second in 1:05:02. Connie Comiso, 46, was third in 1:09:17.

The top age-class effort of the day was turned in by 64-year-old Geoff Howard, who finished 25th in 1:08:09.