Honolulu Marathon officials think a man who collapsed and went into full cardiac arrest while at the finish line yesterday may have been saved by one of nine defibrillators purchased in the three weeks leading up to the race.

The race finisher, a Japanese visitor in his late 40s, finished the race in about four hours and collapsed in the arms of a volunteer doctor, said Dr. Laurence Rotkin, an internist at Castle Hospital and medical director for the race, who was on the scene.

When the runner said he was OK, the doctor laid him down to get some air. "But the man then stopped responding, and he was brought to the tent where we realized he did not have a pulse or heartbeat," Rotkin said.

Four doctors and several nurses worked to revive him. After placing the machine on the runner and getting a reading, he was shocked twice. "He came back pretty quickly," Rotkin said.

Paramedics took him to Straub Clinic & Hospital where he was in satisfactory condition last night and could be going home in the next day or two, Rotkin said.

Paramedic crews near the finish line have had defibrillators on standby for a number of years, said Dr. Jim Barahal, event president and also a medical doctor. But about a month ago, race officials decided to purchase nine automated external defibrillators.

Barahal said, "They're a little more portable and they tend to have computer-generated voice instructions that tell you what to do." The machines cost about $2,000 each, he said. Two were placed at the finish line and seven went around the course in race vehicles.

Barahal said he can't know for sure that the defibrillator saved the runner, but "I would say based on what happened today ... all endurance events that require this type of activity should seriously consider having a (defibrillator) on site at the finish line."

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old Kane'ohe man believed to have been a Kiwanis Club volunteer for the marathon collapsed and died of a heart attack yesterday.

Race officials said Jonah Pak had finished loading a truck and was walking to his car at the Honolulu Zoo when he collapsed in front of the Waikiki Beach Marriott at about 8:20 a.m. He was taken to Straub Clinic & Hospital where he died at about 9 a.m.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.