HONOLULU — Wilson Chebet of Kenya won his debut in the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday after pulling away from a pack of runners in the final miles of the rain-soaked course.
Chebet’s time was 2 hours, 15 minutes and 35 seconds.
He smiled when asked about dealing with the rain, but described the conditions as “terrible from the start.” Travel problems resulted in Chebet, the runner-up in this year’s Boston Marathon, arriving in Hawaii on Friday.
Paul Lonyangata of Kenya was second in 2:16:04. Geb Abraha of Ethiopia was third in 2:16:27.
Kenyan Joyce Chepkirui won the women’s race in 2:30:23. Chepkirui, the first woman from Kenya to win the Honolulu Marathon, took control of her race about midway through, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
Chepkirui was followed by Lisa Nemec of Croatia, who finished in 2:31:35. Isabella Ochichi from Kenya was third in 2:32:22.
More than 20,000 runners started the race.