I was out early this morning with a cup of coffee and a camera to watch the first finishers in the 2016 Honolulu Marathon pass our house, which is located at about the 22.6 mile mark.
Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.
It was still dark and more than a half-hour before sunrise when several bicycles went by escorting the first wheelchair racer. I’m presuming this was Masazumi Soejima, who was the first to cross the finish line on the other side of Diamond Head.
The first runner, wearing #5, appeared about a half-hour later. This was Lawrence Cherono, who went on to finish first and set a new record for the course.
The first woman, Brigid Kosei, passed the house about 20 minutes later.
Click here to see the race results.
A couple of things to note in the photos, besides the incredible athletes.
That’s our house in the background. No wall or gate, an increasing rarity in this part of town. And note the poor condition of the road. Earlier this week, a crew patched the worst of the potholes, just days ahead of the race. But the street is still in poor repair.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Mr. Cherono and Ms. Kosei don’t look like people who have just run 22.6 miles and have a ways to go! It’s a joy to see such ease.
Your house and are holding their own, methinks.
World class marathoners from Kenya are a marvel to watch. But ironically enough, I would bet that if they were somehow transported into this country as children and you witnessed the way they were trained and nourished, some of you bleeding heart types would be horrified and report their parents to the police for abuse/neglect.
And that’s why you’ll never see American runners like Duncan MacDonald or Jeff Galloway winning major marathon events again.
They appeared to run as effortlessly as if they had just started somewhere up at the other end of the street!
Ian,
Is that all one house next door?
Short answer: Yes.
You have a lovely home. Nice front yard. Glad your cataract surgery went well. Take care.
Thank you.