Brett Ely
KAUAI, Hawaii – (September 2, 2012) – The 4th Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon featured nearly 2,000 participants finishing in beautiful Poipu Beach on Sunday morning. Kauai residents led the charge with 553 runners, the most ever in the event’s four-year history. Beyond great local participation, the race proved to be a world class destination event as it featured 1,829 participants represented by 45 states, Puerto Rico and DC, as well as 15 countries.
The men’s Marathon was controlled from the beginning by defending champion Tyler McCandless, missing his own course record by 32 seconds and finishing first in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 54 seconds. McCandless, 25, from Boulder, CO battled hills, slim competition and high humidity to grab his second victory. Jorge Maravilla of Vallejo, CA was a distance second in 2:37:56.
After his win McCandless said, “Last year I came to the Garden Isle of Kauai with a goal of winning the race. I ended the day with a win and course record. Today, I ran as best I could and came up just off my course record, but did not come up short of an incredible experience. The aloha spirit of the race is unrivaled, and I’m very proud to be a two-time Kauai Marathon champion.”
On the women’s side, Brett Ely, 32, of Natick, MA smashed the women’s marathon course record by just over 24 minutes finishing in 2:46:05 (fourth overall). She was challenged by recent San Francisco Marathon champion, Devon Crosby-Helms, who finished second, clocking 2:49:30.
Post-race, Ely stated, “This was the most challenging marathon course that I have run, but the most rewarding. The community support and aloha along the course was amazing with event volunteers, as well as residents in neighborhoods cheering on the runners.”
Both Marathon champions just missed a piece of the Grand Hyatt Kauai $15,000 Speed Challenge, a financial incentive for any male runner finishing under 2:23:19 (course record) and / or any female runner under 2:45.
The men’s Half Marathon was won by Troy Harrison of Waterfall, PA with a time of 1:15:17, while the women were led by repeat champion Emily Shertzer of Jonestown, PA in 1:21:22. Both Harrison and Shertzer were part of the Team National Guard, which had more than 80 runners in the event.
Kauai’s top finishers were Mark Bogner (3:22:19) and Brook Sugahara (3:23:20) for the full marathon and Jordan Kahawai (1:25:58) and Chelsea Smith-Wishard (1:28:51) for the half-marathon.
Endurance sports celebrity Dean Karnazes and Runner’s World’s Chief Running Officer Bart Yasso were both on hand for the week’s festivities handing out tips and inspiration to all the runners. Yasso believes the Kauai Marathon is one of the best destination events because of the accessibility to his fellow running community through the Expo, pre-race fun run and the finish line party. He loves the personal connections he makes and always looks forward to meeting the people of Kauai.
More than $7000 was generously donated to numerous local non-profit groups volunteering for race day activities. Niumalu Canoe Club, Kalaheo Elementary School, Koloa Elementary School, Kapaa High School Project Grad and the Waimea High School Project Grad are just a few. Other non-profit groups attended the event including Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and A-T. Collectively they raised more than $270,000 for their respective charities.
4th Kauai Marathon
Kauai, HI, Sunday, September 2, 2012
MEN
1) Tyler McCandless (CO), 2:23:54
2) Jorge Maravilla (CA), 2:37:56
3) Paul Smith (CA), 2:38:10
WOMEN
1) Brett Ely (MA), 2:46:05*
2) Devon Crosby-Helms (CA), 2:49:30
3) Becki Lynn Lassley (CO), 3:16:07
*course record (previous record, 3:10:07, Rumi Otani (JPN), 2011)
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