Japan's Masazumi Soejima broke the Honolulu Marathon Wheelchair record by 32 seconds, finishing in 1 hour, 30 minutes, 32 seconds.

The old record was set by Krige Schabort of 1:31:04 in 2000.

Kurt Fearnley of Australia came in second in 1:33:44, and Schabort, who had won the previous seven titles, was third in 1:41:22.

Wakako Tsuchida of Japan won the women's wheelchair division in 2:02:52.

Thirty-four men and five women wheelchair racers were entered in yesterday's event.

TOP HAWAI'I FINISHERS

Casper H. Dahl, 24, of Honolulu, was the top Hawai'i resident, placing 22nd in the men's race in 2:42:20. Wailuku's Joseph Alueta, 37, was the top male kama'aina (born and raised in Hawai'i), finishing 24th in 2:42:58.

Honolulu's Jeannie Wokasch Young, 43, was the top Hawai'i female resident and the 19th female overall in 3:08:43. Mililani's Emmie Saigusa, 27, was the top female kama'aina, finishing as the 182nd female in 3:43:49.

Hawai'i runners, 6,016 strong, made up 21.4 percent of yesterday's field. Of the Hawai'i runners, 1,574 were kama'aina.

A SUCCESSFUL 50-STATE RUN

When Marie Bartoletti of Finleyville, Pa., crossed the finish line yesterday, she achieved her goal of completing marathons in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in a two-year span.

"I got my last state, and I had a great time," Bartoletti said. "This is a great marathon."

Bartoletti, 48, said she started with a Houston marathon in January 2004 and hasn't stopped since, running multiple marathons a month. She said she did not know if her feat is a record.

"I started getting on marathon guide.com to see when they were, and I scheduled them all," Bartoletti, who is an elementary school physical education teacher, and uses her marathon trips as geography aids for her students.

For the record, Bartoletti finished the Honolulu Marathon in 4:14:02.

VILORIA WANTS TO RUN

World champion boxer Brian Viloria, of Waipahu, said one of the things on his "to-do list" was to run a marathon.

"I'm wanting to, down the line," said Viloria, who won the World Boxing Council light-flyweight title in September.

"It intrigues me. I want to see how it is to cross the finish line," said Viloria, who added that the longest distance he runs for training is about 10 miles.

Viloria, who said he might try next year's Honolulu Marathon, fights Jose Antonio Aguirre on Feb. 18 in Las Vegas.

AIDS PROGRAM REPRESENTED

The National AIDS Marathon Training Program, a U.S.-based, six-month training program for beginners and veterans alike, returned to the Honolulu Marathon this year.

The runners have raised $3.5 million for AIDS service organizations in four U.S. cities: Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

Los Angeles runners Liz Roark and Brendan Rome were two of more than 950 runners representing the program.

Roark, 47, a nurse and mother of two who lost 143 lbs. after gastric bypass surgery, ran in a jersey bearing the name of a former APLA client and friend's brother who died of AIDS. Rome, who marks 20 years as an HIV survivor in February 2006, is the only one of his circle of friends from the 1980s who is still alive.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com and Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.