HONOLULU (Island News) – Participants ran through the streets of Oahu on Sunday for the 52nd Honolulu Marathon.

It was an epic day for participants of all skill levels – pushing their bodies to the limit and winding from locations from downtown Honolulu to Kapiolani Park.

The first male participant in the wheelchair race was Kota Hokinoue from Japan.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: “It was a bit tough today, but the people on the street helping me gave me the energy to do it.”

Wakako Tsuchida was the first woman to finish in a wheelchair.

In the marathon, 26-year-old Yamane Haileselassie from Eritrea became the first male runner to cross the finish line with a blistering time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 59 seconds. In a close race, he finished 17 seconds ahead of Kenyan Reuben Kerio for the title.

After the win, Haileselassie said: “It’s a good city, it’s very beautiful, I enjoy the view, the oceans and the nice people.”

“I am happy and grateful for this opportunity,” Haileselassie added. “I will use this money to support my family in Eritrea.” (Eritrea is located in Africa and borders Ethiopia and Sudan).

The prize money is $25,000, plus a solid gold medal worth $15,000.

Cynthia Limo from Kenya was the best marathon participant with a time of 2:31:14 seconds. She also receives the same prizes as Haileselassie.

The first male and female finishers in Hawaii were Jared Breux of Kailua, who completed the 26.2-mile marathon in 2:44:49, and Kathryn Watt of Kailua, who finished in 3:01:51.

The first Kama’aina finishers were both from Honolulu – Gabriel Tom (2:52:09) and Amanda Beaman (3:07:32).

Additionally, Ben Jones competed on Sunday, meaning he has now completed marathons in all 50 states in 14 years.

Meanwhile, the medical staff, who dealt with a variety of potential challenges throughout the race, helped make it all possible.

Honolulu Marathon Medical Director Dr. Alexander Berk, told Island News: “Last year we were right at about 30,000 runners, this year we are well over 35,000 runners, a big part of that is because our Japanese friends are coming back now. “We have over, I think 8,000 Japanese runners.

The Honolulu Marathon is prepared for difficult circumstances.

“We stand in our main medical treatment tent, as you can see here, we have very robust capacity to treat hundreds of patients, last year alone we treated 300 patients – in a tent like this we have everything from advanced laboratories “We have plunge pools so that patients can quickly cool down if they become hypothermic or overheated,” adds Dr. Berk.

Marathon officials said 39 percent of participants were Hawaii residents and more than 60 percent were visitors.

In addition, organizers said registration numbers increased by 25 percent compared to last year.