Kaua'i Marathon M50-54: Rao Holds Off Stenovich in a Battle of Local Runners

• Johnny Rao (Kalaheo, HI) won the M50-54 group in 4:19:28 (9:54/mi), the only finisher under 4:20.
• Andrew Stenovich came in just 1:40 back at 4:21:08 — the closest gap on the podium by a wide margin.
• Nathan Southam ran the race in reverse: he entered the men's field as high as 55th before fading to 96th, finishing 5th in M50-54 — just 8 seconds behind 4th-place Matthias Westphal.
• The group spanned nearly 2 hours from first to last, with Lee Shannon (6:20:24) and Neel Kanase (6:11:37) completing a full marathon in Kauai's 77°F humidity.

Johnny Rao made it look controlled if not comfortable. The Kalaheo native ran a steady 9:54-per-mile pace to win M50-54 in 4:19:28, and while he drifted slightly in the men's field over the final miles — moving from 63rd at the halfway point to 66th at the finish — he never truly lost his grip on first place in the age group. His strongest relative moment came late: he posted the 55th-fastest split in the men's field on the 22.25-to-24.15-mile stretch, a useful push when it mattered most.

Andrew Stenovich made the race interesting. The Anahola runner was the most aggressive mover in the group early, climbing from 81st in the men's field at the first checkpoint all the way to 58th by the 6.55-mile mark — and he backed that up with the 46th-fastest men's split on the 6.55-mile-to-halfway segment. He couldn't quite reel in Rao, but 4:21:08 and a 1:40 deficit to the winner is a solid result in this heat. Keith Perry rounded out the podium at 4:27:48, running a measured 10:13/mi and posting a competitive split through the back half.

The race's sharpest subplot was the 4th-vs-5th battle. Matthias Westphal (Rostock, Germany — the group's lone international finisher) and Nathan Southam of Castle Rock, CO, crossed in 4:43:34 and 4:43:42 respectively — 8 seconds apart after 26.2 miles. Southam had actually been running ahead of Westphal for much of the race, sitting as high as 55th in the men's field early, but faded steadily to 96th by the finish while Westphal climbed from 124th all the way to 95th. A tale of two very different strategies, settled by eight ticks of the clock.