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The first time Richard Kiyabu Jr. saw Ayako Hayashi, he wasn’t sure she was going to make it. Read more

The first time Richard Kiyabu Jr. saw Ayako Hayashi, he wasn’t sure she was going to make it.

The 81-year-old runner from Japan was staggering down Kalanianaole Highway, trying to complete the Honolulu Marathon well after all the other runners and walkers had come and gone. Kiyabu pulled over to help her. Another woman stopped to help, too. As they made their way slowly toward the finish line miles away, more people, complete strangers, saw the little group struggling along and joined in, steadying Hayashi when she faltered, massaging her muscles when they cramped, keeping her company as she pressed on. They told her it was OK if she stopped the race, but though she thanked them for their help, she refused to give up, so they all kept going.

By the time Hayashi and her supporters made it to the finish line, they had become friends. They rejoiced in her 16-hour, 23-minute, 9-second last-place finish. It felt like they won something together.

That was in December. After the race the friends didn’t just go their separate ways. They got together for dinner with Hayashi and her 84-year-old husband, Sekizo, before the couple returned to Japan, and they have stayed in touch since.

Staying in touch required some effort, though, and a lot of translation.

“Sekizo and Ayako had given us their email addresses and mobile phone addresses, both of which weren’t accepting email,” Kiyabu said. Instead, they wrote letters. Kiyabu vowed to brush up on his Japanese.

This month Kiyabu was in Japan. He had served as a missionary in Wakayama prefecture for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints and was returning to visit old friends, catch the Bruno Mars concert and, especially, see Ayako Hayashi, the woman who had come to symbolize so many things to him: faith, endurance and the miraculous things that happen when people come together with a common goal.

Kiyabu met the Hayashis in Shinjuku at a restaurant called Horikawa. “They were so cheerful and in great spirits,” Kiyabu said. “They talked about their wonderful experiences in Hawaii over the meal.”

Kiyabu brought gifts that the friends from the marathon had asked him to take to Japan. From Faith Osurman, the lady who massaged Ayako’s back, and Mike Shiroma, who ran the marathon and then turned back before the finish line to help whoever the last-place finisher might be, there were boxes of Hawaiian Host chocolate-covered macadamias. From Karen Sarsona there was a refrigerator magnet that read, “If I see you smiling when you run, then I’ll run too.” Ki­yabu showed up for lunch in a suit jacket carrying a bouquet of spring flowers he bought at the train station. Hayashi proudly wore her marathon finisher shirt.

“Ayako hopes that she and her husband will return to Hawaii, although she is not sure whether she will enter the marathon,” Kiyabu said. “They cherish their memories here and would like to thank all of the friendly people who welcomed her warmly at the finish line. I hope they return. Meeting them again made me so happy!”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.