1991

It was one of the slowest Honolulu Marathons ever run, but it also might have been the most exciting. For the first time in the 19-year history of this race, as many as five runners were in contention with less than three miles to go.

With a little less than 2 miles remaining in the 26.2-mile event, Benson Masya, a 21-year-old postal clerk from Kenya, broke away from Steve Jones, a former world record holder in the marathon, and went on to break the finishing tape at Kapiolani Park in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 24 seconds.

It was Masya's first marathon.

Defending champion Simon Robert Naali, 26, of Tanzania, overtook Jones with about a quarter-mile to go to finish second, 19 seconds behind Masya. Jones, 35, of Wales, was third, another two seconds back.

"It felt very easy to me," Masya said. "The slower it went, the more confident I became. With two miles to go, I felt the time had come to start running hard. I felt very confident by that time that I could win."

While many of the elite runners complained about the humid conditions, Masya said the weather didn't bother him. "It is much like Kenya," he said. "I'm used to conditions like this."

Ritva Lemettinen of Finland, 31, was an equally surprising winner in the women's race, finishing 30th overall in 2:40:11. Race favorite Tuija Toivenen, also of Finland, dropped out at around 10 miles.

An estimated 14,000 of the 14,603 who signed up for the race lined up for the 5:30 a.m. start near Aloha Tower. It was the largest field in the history of the race.