Olympic figure skating silver medalist Mao Asada ran the Honolulu Marathon in 4 hours, 34 minutes, 13 seconds, on Sunday.
Nick Symmonds, a two-time U.S. Olympic 800m runner, ran 3:00:35.
Asada, a three-time world champion from Japan who retired in April, just missed her reported goal of breaking 4:30 but beat another reported goal.
She easily went faster than older sister Mai’s reported time from the Nagoya Marathon in 2013, about five hours.
The Honolulu Marathon was sponsored by Japan Airlines, which has put Asada’s image on the side of a plane.
Symmonds wanted to break three hours but said he was done in by a hill at mile 24, where he split more than 8 minutes.
“I want to break three so I never have to run another one,” Symmonds said, adding that he averaged 25 miles a week in training (that’s on the low side for suggested marathon training). “I’ve run almost every day of my life for 20 years, so that helps. ... It was really fun for 20 miles, and then I tried to stay mentally tough for six. ... I’m going to set a goal to run a spring marathon, find a nice, flat course and really get after it.”
Symmonds, the 2013 World 800m silver medalist who retired earlier this year, has said he wants to climb the tallest mountain on every continent.
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The Bison just #RanTheDay@NickSymmonds is now a marathoner. @HNLmarathon #RunAloha #Runtheday pic.twitter.com/vpC9ZsZVYm
— Run Gum (@RunGum) December 10, 2017