Spurred on by his recent Hall of Fame induction and the cheers of fellow racers and onlookers, Jonathan Lyau ran his best race in years to win his 16th Kama'aina award in yesterday's Honolulu Marathon.

"I just want to thank everybody. There were so many people along the course who recognized me and cheered for me and that helped so much coming back," Lyau said. "When I was coming back and people were going out and having enough energy to cheer for me, people on the sides cheering for me, coming up the hill guys running with me, it was totally fantastic."Lyau, who has won 16 of the last 17 Kama'aina titles, was inducted into the Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame Thursday.

"It was like getting a shot of adrenaline and that's what kept me going," Lyau said. "It was the difference between previous years. I think just because people recognized me (because of his induction in to the Hall of Fame) and I felt like I really had a home-field advantage today."

Slightly superstitious, Lyau said he was especially glad to win this year with the timing of his most recent honor.

Lyau finished in 2 hours, 49 minutes and 14 seconds — his best time in four years, he said. He ran faster than his expected time of 2 hours, 50 minutes.

"I went out comfortably because I'm not sure of my conditioning and in the past years I didn't run what I expected," Lyau said. "So I went out comfortably. I tried to run negative splits (running the second half faster than the first) and I kind of hit a bad patch but I thought maybe if I change the pace and pick it up a little, I'll feel better and get into more of a rhythm and I did that.

"Coming back I ended up running negative splits, which I haven't for a while so I think I went out at the right pace."

LAAN WINS IN FIRST MARATHON

Not far behind the front pack of Kenyan elite runners was a local runner attempting his first marathon with two big goals.

"Kind of just get under 2:30, be the first resident would've been nice," said Brandon Laan, 26, of Honolulu. "All of those were accomplished."

Laan finished sixth overall in 2:25:41 and won the Resident Award, given to those who were born outside of Hawai'i but currently reside here.

"It's awesome," said Laan, assistant cross country coach at Hawai'i Pacific University. "I hadn't been feeling good all week. It was definitely a blessing."

Laan caught two Kenyan elite runners in the last 15k of the race.

"I had so many people out supporting me, it's just unreal," said Laan, who is also an assistant track coach at Punahou. "From coaches to family, my roommate ... that's the best part of running."

Jessica Tranchina, 32, of Ho-nolulu was the Resident Award winner for women. She placed 14th overall in the women's race in 3:12:30.

MORE HPU SUCCESS

Sara Verga, also an assistant cross country coach at Hawai'i Pacific, won her first Kama'aina award after finishing in 3:13:59.

Verga, a 29-year-old nursing student at HPU, said she had no intention of winning and just wanted to have fun. She finished 16th overall in the women's race.

"It was a PR for me and I'm really happy about it," Verga said.

STILL PERFECT

Three finishers are still perfect in marathon lore.

Jerold Chun, Gary Dill and Gordon Dugan all finished the marathon yesterday in a variety of ways. They are the only three to have completed all 37 Honolulu Marathons.

Dugan, a 76-year-old retired University of Hawai'i engineering professor, did the marathon in a walking boot after fracturing the tibia in his right foot. He walked the course in 8:04:27.

Chun, 50, of California, finished in 4:39:15.

Dill, 65, of Honolulu, finished in 7:02:50.

Their longevity led to inductions into the Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame in 2007. In 1985, there were 13 runners who completed all the races. Since 2001, only Chun, Dill and Dugan remain.

WHEELCHAIR WINNERS BREAK RECORDS

Records were set in yesterday's wheelchair races by Japanese competitors.

Masazumi Soejima, 39, of Fukuoka-City, won the men's race in 1:31:00. He broke his own record of 1:29:22 set in 2006.

Wakako Tsuchida, 35, of Tama-Shi, won the women's race in 1:49:09. Honolulu's Dawna Zane placed second in 3:57:20.

FINAL NUMBERS

The Honolulu Marathon had 20,321 finishers — the last coming in 14 hours after the 5 a.m. start. There were 20,609 who crossed the starting line.

Totaro Ito, a 77-year-old from Japan, was last in 14:20:04. Three others from Japan finished nine minutes before Ito. Awaiting Ito at the finish were members of the Japanese media, and their presence reflects the nearly 14,000 Japanese participants.

Though roads open up late in the day and some services pack up at the finisher's area, medical services remain open until the last person finishes. A van follows the last group of runners and provides water for them.

CERTIFICATE PICKUP

Finisher's certificates can be picked up at Kapi'olani Park today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.