Induction Year: 2021

Connie Comiso, aka Connie del Rosario and Connie Comiso-Fanelli, has been running nearly 45 years and has been called the most prolific female runner in Hawai‘i. She sang and danced hula and Tahitian with the Kailua High School Madrigal Singers. In 1978, at the University of Hawaii (UH) School of Nursing, Connie started running to lose weight. Three months and thirty pounds later, she entered her first race, the Hilo marathon, finishing in 3:47. She started attending the Honolulu Marathon clinic, joined Hash House Harriers, the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club (MPRRC), and was a walk-on in her senior year to the UH Cross Country team coached by Johnny Faerber. After graduating from the UH School of Nursing, she asked Coach Johnny if he would continue to coach her. He agreed, and the Faerber’s Flyers was born.         

Locally, Connie has won many major road races:

• MPRRC Outstanding Female Runner of the Year x 16 years; 1985, 1986, 1987, 2001-2013
• Won the first Great Aloha Run in 1985
• Honolulu Quarterback Club Senior Female Athlete of the Year Finalist 2005
• Won Hilo Marathon 7 years in a row; 1980-1987
• Won Kona Marathon x 2, 2^nd x 1, 3^rd x 4
• Won Run to the Sun Ultramarathon x 7; 37.5 miles from sea level to 10,000 feet to the summit of Haleakala Crater on Maui
• Won MPRRC Marathon Readiness Series Overall Female winner 2004
• Won Volcano 10 miler x 2 in Volcano National Park on the Big Island, 1980, 1984
• Won Hawaii State Championships in the 5K, 10K, 15K, 30K
• Won the Windward Half Marathon x 2, Val Nolasco Half Marathon x 2
• First Kamaina female finisher in Honolulu Marathon 1991
• Maui Marathon 2^nd and 3^rd place overall female x 2
• Age division winner, Kaua‘i Marathon, 50-54 and 55-59
• Age division winner, Maui Marathon x 3, 40-44, 45-49 x 3, 50-54 x 1
• Age division winner, Honolulu Marathon x 1, 30-34, 35-39 x 2, 3^rd place 40-44
• Ran on winning/record setting teams: O‘ahu Perimeter Relays, Hana Relays, Primo Relays and Manoa Relays in Hawaii; Hood to Coast Relays in Oregon.

Her personal best times:

• One mile: 5:04 in the Cherry Street Mile in Tulsa OK
• 5K: 17:34 in the Terry Fox 5K in Philadelphia
• 10K: 37:17 in the Hawai‘i State Championships in Kaneohe
• 15K: 57:20 in the Hickam State Championships on Hickam AFB
• 10 Miles: 1:04 at Runners Life 10-Miler at Schofield Barracks, Wahiawa, HI
• Half Marathon: 1:21 in the Val Nolasco Half in Hawai‘i Kai and Ichinoseki, Japan
• 30K: 2:01 in the Honsport State Championships in Honolulu
• Marathon: 2:53 in the Manila International Marathon
• Ultramarathon 37.5 miles: 6:00 in Haleakala Run to the Sun, Maui, HI

On the Mainland and Internationally, Connie was invited to compete in or qualified for: San Francisco Marathon (x 2), NYC Marathon (x 2), Boston Marathon (x 2), Philadelphia Marathon (2^nd overall female), Broad Street 10 Mile in Philadelphia (x 2, age division winner), Jamaica Marathon (x 2), Jamaica 10K, Vancouver, BC International Marathon (x 2, 3^rd and 4^th female overall), Manila International Marathon (x 2, 3^rd and 4^th female overall), Ichinoseki, Japan Half Marathon (x 15, 2^nd female overall x 1), Anchorage, Alaska All Women’s 10K representing Hawaii.

Coaching experience:

• Assistant Cross Country Coach at UH with Head Coach Johnny Faerber x 2 years;
• Assistant Cross Country Coach with PAC-5 x 2 years
• Assistant Cross Country Boy’s JV/VARS, Head Coach Michael Georgi at Punahou HS x 10 yrs
• Assistant Cross Country, Track Coach Girls intermediate, JV, VARS, Sacred Hearts  x 9 years currently

Sponsorships include: Nike Hawai‘i (x 10 years), Running Room (x 5 years), Fleet Feet (Philadelphia x 2 years; Hawai‘i x 2 years), Runners HI (x 5 years), Hawaiian Airlines (x 2 years), Honolulu Club (x 1 year), Gold’s Gym (x 3 years).

Literary and media contributions: Runners Life Magazine (x 10 years), Hawai‘i Race Magazine (x 5 years), MDA co-chair in the Love Run Program (x 2 with Super Bowl champ Russ Francis & Kelly Beck), ABC TV and KITV-4 Color Commentary coverage for Diet Pepsi 10K, Tinman Triathlon and Honolulu Marathon (x 4 years), KKUA AM radio Weekend Running Report with Connie (x 2 years).

Club contributions: Started Faerber’s Flyers Women’s Running Club in 1980, later in 2000, club became co-ed; started Beer & Nachos Track Club in 1983; first woman to join Honolulu Hawai‘i Hash House Harriers in 1980; member of Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club (x 40 years; lifetime member x 25 years; ; current Board member, and Social Director x 4 years); Board member of the Hawai‘i Running Hall of Fame.

Race Director and Emcee: Johnny Faerber All Men’s 10K (x 10 years, later became coed, current race director); Hawaiian Style 8K (x 10 years); Race Against Violence (x 10 years); Mahalo to Tesh 5K (to honor and thank photographer Uriel Teshima for his thousands of pictures he took and mailed to runners for 25 years); Aloha for Japan 5K (benefit for the victims of the Sendai Tsunami in 2011). Connie has her BSN in Nursing from UH, is a Certified Case Manager, Certified Childbirth Educator, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Hypnotherapist. She works at Kapi‘olani Medical Center and coaches at Sacred Hearts Academy. She lives in Manoa with her running husband/surfer Craig Knohl and their dog, Casey. She has a 26-year-old son, Gary Fanelli Jr, and 26-year-old stepdaughter, Nasia Knohl, who all run.

Norman Tamanaha is considered the “Father of Distance Running in Hawaii.” Long before the running boom of the early 1970s, Norman dominated local races, was a key figure in promoting running in Hawaii through the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club (MPRRC) and the Hawaii Masters Track Club (HMTC), and coached track at St. Louis High school.

Records indicate that Norman won the inaugural Hawaiian Amateur Athletics Union’s Marathon held on Maui in 1943.

His achievements at the Boston Marathon are noteworthy. An examination of results compiled by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) reveals that Norman was the first Hawaii resident ever to compete at Boston, completing five marathons from 1952-1956. It wouldn’t be until 1965 that another Hawaii resident would run at Boston.

His five top twenty-five overall finishes came when he was between 45 and 49 years old:

• 1952 – 5^th place (2:51:55)
• 1953 – 10^th place (2:38:38)
• 1954 – 13^th place (2:45:45)
• 1955 – 15^th place (2:38:30)
• 1956 – 25^th place (2:38:46)

During the 1970s, Norman competed in HMTC track meets and ran some fast times such as 18:40.6 for 5k (age 65), and 10ks of 41:36.0 (age 66), and 43.46.0 (age 67).

After he passed in 1977, HMTC sponsored the first Norman K. Tamanaha 15K Run in 1978 and is still one of Oahu’s most popular races.

Mike Tymn is a prominent figure in Hawaii’s running history for his outstanding race performances throughout his running career, especially as a masters runner over the age of 40 and for his promotion of the sport through his writing.

A runner since 1954, Mike began competing in Hawaii right after moving here from Guam in 1971.  At 42, Mike was the overall winner of the 1979 Maui Marathon with a time of 2:28:43, and was twice named Hawaii’s “Runner of the Year” by the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club (MPRRC).

Notable achievements:

• Won four national masters championships from 10K to the marathon and broke national age records at 10K, 15K, 20K and the One-Hour Run
• Twice overall winner of the Kam Day Kukini (1977-78), Hawaii’s most popular non-marathon

• Winner of the first Norman K. Tamanaha 15K and age-group recordholder in the 40-44, 45-49, and 50-54 divisions; still holds 40-over record at 49:43, set at age 45

• Won the 30-39 division in the 1975 Honolulu Marathon (2:34), second in the 30-39 division in 1976 (2:32) and first in the 40-49 division in 1977 (2:32)
• Represented MPRRC in the 1977 National Masters Team Championship, which was part of the New York City Marathon, with Jim Gallup and Johnny Faerber, winning the national team championship

• Clocked 2:29:52 in leading the Hawaii team, including Gordon Dugan and Jim Gallup, to a second-place finish in the 1978 National Masters Marathon Championship in Anaheim, California.

• Won the One-Hour Run at UH in 1979 with 11 miles, 542 yards, which was an American age record

• Sponsored by Nike in 1978-81, won 40-49 division of the 1979 Cascade Run-Off 15K in Portland (49:24)

• Won the 1980 Nike National 10K masters championship in San Diego, leading the Hawaii team, including Johnny Faerber and Jim Gallup, to a second-place team finish

• Broke the then-existing national 10K 40-over road record with a 31:38 in Boston, Mass.

• Won Road Runners Club of America national championship 10K in the 45-49 division in Portland, Maine in 1985
• Coached the Hawaii state team in the international Ekiden competition in New York City in 1988 and 1989

Mike promoted an appreciation for long-distance running through his work as a reporter. He covered the running scene for the Honolulu Advertiser from 1978 to 2002 and contributed many articles to national publications, including Runner’s World, Running Times, and National Masters News. In his long career, he contributed over 1,600 articles in approximately 40 newspapers, magazines, journals, and books, and interviewed and wrote about more than 40 Olympians. Pictured below is Mike’s highly regarded book, Running on Third Wind (2009).

Mike is married to the former Gina Bernard of Kaneohe, Hawaii and has two daughters, both registered nurses, and four grandchildren, and lives in Kailua, Oahu.