Posted at 8:34 a.m., Sunday, December 11, 2005
Muindi wins fifth Honolulu Marathon; Russian wins her first
| • | Video: Top three male runners |
| • | Video: Top three female runners |
Advertiser Staff
Jimmy Muindi, 32, of Kenya, won his record fifth Honolulu Marathon and newcomer Olesya Nurgalieva, 29, of Russia, won her first today in the 33rd annual event.The 26.2-mile race around East Oahu began at 5 a.m. today with 28,048 runners.
Running mostly alone and with his wife, son and daughter here, Muindi won by three minutes.
"Having them here gave me a lot of morale," Muindi said.
This was Muindi's third consecutive victory and fifth since 1999. He also won in 2000. He finished the with a time of 2:12:00. Last year, Muindi set a Honolulu Marathon record with a 2:11:12.
Mbarak Hussein, 40, a former Kenyan who became a United States citizen before the 2004 race, finished second in 2:15:06. Hussein, who won this event in 1998, 2001 and 2002, was third last year.
Eric Nzioki, 27, of Kenya, making his Honolulu Marathon debut, finished third at 2:16:24.
Nurgalieva, who also was making her Honolulu Marathon debut, led throughout the race and finished with a time of 2:30:24. Japan's Eri Hayakawa, 23, who won in 2003, finished second for the second consecutive year. Her time was 2:32:59. Alevtina Ivanova, 30, of Russia, who was second in 2003 and fourth last year, took third in 2:38:17.
Muindi earned $20,000 and Nurgalieva $17,000 for winning their respective races.
