Lyau, Markowicz top finishers at Val Nolasco race

Special to The Advertiser

With the Honolulu Marathon just five weeks away, yesterday's Val Nolasco Half Marathon drew about 1,000 runners who are gearing up for the Dec. 14 marathon.

Jonathan Lyau

Kristi Markowicz

The female winner was Kristi Markowicz, a 33-year-old mother of two. Normally a short-distance specialist, Markowicz has moved up to longer distances this year. She plans to run her first marathon in Honolulu.

"I am still learning long distance and this was the first half marathon I have run," the former UCLA track and cross country runner said. "I feel that I have lost some speed, but gained a lot of strength."

Markowicz seemed nothing like a novice as she finished in 1:22:26.

Sayuri Kusutani, 44, was the runner-up in 1:23:23 and Susan Burr took third in 1:29:38.

Lyau, who ran the Chicago Marathon four weeks ago, said ran yesterday's race to see how his recovery was going. He plans to run in the Honolulu Marathon.

Last year's Val Nolasco champion, Christian Friis, 30, led through the first mile in a blistering 5:18 with Lyau and Air Force Capt. Bob Dickie 6 seconds back.

Dickie, who ran the Marine Corps Marathon two weeks ago, dropped out a few miles later.

Lyau caught Friis going up Diamond Head and the two ran together until the turnaround at Wailupe on Kalaniana'ole.

At that point, Lyau surged ahead and gradually pulled away to regain the title he had won in 2001.

Friis finished in 1:16:04. Friis admitted that he is not in as good condition as last year, but plans to put in some better training in the next few weeks for the marathon.

Pete Boksanski, 34, was third in 1:19:03.

Male

Open: 1, Jonathan Lyau 1:14:45. 2, Christian Friis 1:16:04. 3, Pete Boksanski 1:19:03. 14-younger: 1, Borys Pleskacz 1:38:34. 2, Troy Shugars 3:24:57. 15-19: 1, Cheyenne Diaz 1:22:25. 2, Scott Zane 2:09:59. 3, Joey Shimabuku 2:22:34. 20-24: 1, Kimokeo Bode 1:24:05. 2, James West 1:27:59. 3, Jonah Reyes 1:36:20. 25-29: 1, Trevor Funk 1:22:03. 2, Michael Tunick 1:22:09. 3, Rich Ducote 1:25:13. 30-34: 1, David Stackhouse 1:25:23. 2, Dan Avondoglio 1:26:10. 2, Jason Pang 1:27:44. 35-39: 1, Mark Geoghegan 1:25:11. 2, Mike Bennett 1:26:22. 3, Alan Tsuhako 1:26:37. 40-44: 1, Greg Anderson 1:21:13. 2, Craig Knohl 1:22:07. 3, Jay Kauwale 1:23:56. 45-49: 1, Jozef Gyurke 1:24:37. 2, Coswin Saito 1:31:59. 3, Alton Arakaki 1:37:31. 50-54: 1, Michael Georgi 1:20:48. 2, Mickey Campaniello 1:32:54. 3, Tom Lawrence 1:33:29. 55-59: 1, Ron Pate 1:35:14. 2, Richard Moeller 1:36:29. 3, Fred Stapenhorst 1:37:03. 60-64: 1, Robert Yee 1:51:36. 2, Toby Kravet 1:52:14. 3, William Hartford 2:06:33. 65-69: 1, Geoff Howard 1:46:57. 2, Kit Smith 1:48:03. 3, Harry Siegmund 2:13:13. 70-74: 1, Thomas Limm 2:08:16. 2, Limu Furtado 3:27:14. 75-79: 1, Bob Henninger 2:26:34. 2, Lyle Nelson 2:39:11. 3, Julius Velin 2:40:42. 80-84: 1, Naoto Inada 3:38:20. 2, Bill Beauchamp 3:49:04. 85-older: Bob Terukina 4:30:20. Wheelchair: 1, Greg Hao 1:19:07. 2, Mike Nishimoto 2:03:54.

Female

Open: 1, Kristi Markowicz 1:22:26. 2, Sayuri Kusutani 1:23:23. 3, Susan Burr 1:29:38. 20-24: 1, Diane Kohara 1:38:03. 2, Noelle Morgan 1:41:38. 3, Evadne Eastman 1:41:51. 25-29: 1, Kim Belmont 1:30:52. 2, Julia Pae 1:41:52. 3, Laura Schoenrock 1:43:44. 30-34: 1, Katey Mobley 1:32:38. 2, Tanya Florin 1:37:32. 3, Theresa Gerry 1:41:13. 35-39: 1, Shelley Grisbrook 1:30:27. 2, Katie Slocumb 1:45:06. 3, Ui Pauole 1:46:12. 40-44: 1, Jeannie Wokasch 1:29:56. 2, Debbie Pfirrmann 1:41:28. 3, Frances Acoba 1:41:54. 45-49: 1, Connie Comiso 1:38:57. 2, Stephanie McLaughlin 1:45:27. 3, Carla Myers 1:46:03. 50-54: 1, Lorie Young 1:49:13. 2, Sandra Burgess 1:50:05. 3, Kathy Tanaka 1:53:30. 55-59: 1, Wah Berman 1:50:31. 2, Bobbi Stapenhorst 2:08:22. 3, Joan Ushijima 2:13:51. 60-64: 1, Lynn Kugle 2:17:33. 2, Joy Schoenecker 2:33:16. 3, Makenla Arakaki 3:21:10. 65-69: 1, Darlene Heck 2:22:57. 2, Carole Kleve 2:33:23. 3, Eleanor Kitagawa 2:39:07. 70-74: 1, Barbara Zamparelli 2:23:13. 2, Mary Kawahara 3:08:30. 75-79: 1, Ellen Humphrey 2:28:08. 2, Marie Boles 2:50:30. Wheelchair: Dawna Zane 1:57:32.