1988

You'd think Gianni Poli would have something better to do on his honeymoon than run a marathon.

But Paolr, his bride of just one week, didn't seem to mind. She jumped for joy and screamed when Poli surged ahead of Bradt Nava near the 22-mile mark to take command of the race.

Poli, a 31-year-old Italian, added to his lead over the final four miles and broke the finishing tape of the 16th Honolulu Marathon yesterday morning in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 47 seconds, winning by nearly a half-mile. The victory was worth $10,000 in prize money.

Nava, 22, an unexpected and unknown contender from Paraguay, clocked 2:15:12 for second place. Gidamis Shahanga of Tanzania was third (2:16:47). Three-time defending champion Ibrahim Hussein reportedly dropped out of the race at nine miles.

Poli, winner of the 1986 New York City Marathon, covered the second half of the 26.2-mile event in 1:05:45, faster than his first half (1:07:02). No official records of split-times are kept, but it is believed to be the first time any Honolulu Marathon winner has run the second half faster than the first.

In a somewhat ironic turn of events, Cyndie Welte of Ohio, who had come to Honolulu as a spectator, won the $10,000 first prize for women. She led the women's field all the way, finishing 38th overall in 2:41:52.

"I really didn't plan to run the race until about 10 days ago," Welte said. "I've been training for the Houston Marathon in February. But when I heard that Carla Beurskens (the defending champion and record-holder) wasn't going to run, I thought I might have a chance to win and decided to give it a try."

Race officials reported that entries reached the 10,000 mark on Saturday afternoon, but, allowing for the usual number of no-shows, it was estimated that around 9,000 lined up near Aloha Tower for the 5:30 a.m. start.