Okajima shows finishing touch

Ronen zilberman/Associated PressIn his marathon debut, Hideki Okajima may have been slow on the delivery (6 hours 35 minutes) but he accomplished his goal. (Ronen zilberman/Associated Press)

HONOLULU - It was a day for a Red Sox reliever to go the distance.

Except yesterday the distance wasn't nine innings, it was 26.2 miles.

Flanked by Tokyo Broadcasting System employees wearing Red Sox hats, Hideki Okajima stood in mud outside the Honolulu Marathon press tent to answer questions about his marathoning debut with the help of a translator.

He finished the race in 6 hours 8 minutes 35 seconds. Okajima was a featured runner in a race whose field is always 60 percent Japanese.

The Waikiki Beach sands were not more than a center-field-to-home-plate throw away from where he was interviewed.

"I didn't put my 100 percent into it this time," said Okajima, wiping his brow. "I just had to watch my running and pace myself. Sometimes I took a rest and sometimes I was walking."

Okajima finished nearly four hours behind men's winner Patrick Ivuti (2:14:35) of Kenya and women's victor Kiyoko Shimahara (2:32:36) of Japan, and 1:15 behind Betty Jean McHugh, an 81-year-old from North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Okajima refused to answer any baseball questions, fielding only questions pertaining to the race.

Okajima's training regimen was a bit unusual for such a grueling event. He said he didn't train during the baseball season and then ran about one hour once a week after it ended.

"That's pretty much it," said Okajima, who, fittingly, wore No. 37.

Yet Okajima looked remarkably fresh after he crossed the finish line. He walked without the limp many marathoners have after finishing and his posture was straight.

Yesterday's conditions were less than ideal for a marathon. Temperatures were in the low 70s with a driving rain.

Why did Okajima run?

"I was speaking with my friend and said that if I cannot make it to the World Series this time then we will run the Honolulu Marathon," he said.

Okajima doesn't know if he will attempt another Honolulu Marathon.

"My next year's goal is to make it to the World Series," he said. "I'd like to do my job."