The Honolulu Marathon spent $70,000 to repair at least seven areas of Kapi'olani Park that were damaged by runners, tents and delivery trucks as heavy rains hit the race in December.

The marathon had use of the area from November through its Dec. 9 run, and the unexpected clean-up meant that people did not have access to it, city spokesman Bill Brennan said.

"It's been out of commission for two months and will still be out of commission for an undetermined amount of time," Brennan said. "We'll have to make sure the sodding takes before allowing heavy use in that area. ... We'll be looking at ways to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future."

The rutted and flooded areas meant some soccer teams and other groups had to abandon field No. 3 and use other fields within the park — or even reschedule games at schools or other venues, Brennan said.

Marathon organizers originally brought in mulch to soak up the heavy rains that had puddled in some places.

"In the long run, that made it even worse," said marathon vice president Tommy Kono, who serves as the liaison between the city parks department and the race. "After the marathon, the ground was soaked to the max and it was like a marsh."

Workers first had to remove 60 to 70 cubic yards of mulch before replacing it with 170 cubic yards of top soil, Kono said.

Aided by 25 volunteers, crews then laid tropic turf sod over the damaged areas, Kono said. A temporary sprinkler system has been laid to water the sod and ensure it takes root.

But already, Kono said, the repaired areas "are far better than they have been."

The work was completed on Saturday and the Honolulu Marathon will pay the entire $70,000 cost, marathon spokesman Pat Bigold said.

The cost of the repairs are in addition to the nearly $700,000 the marathon spent to put on the race this year, Bigold said.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.