When at first Christian Madsen didn't succeed, he tried, tried again. And when that didn't work, he tried yet again.

Stubbornness finally paid off for the former Hawai'i Pacific University track star with a convincing victory in yesterday's 23rd annual Hawaiian Telcom Great Aloha Run.

Madsen, 29, now interning with the Red Cross in his native Denmark, completed the 8.15-mile course from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium in 42 minutes and 24 seconds. Current HPU runner Brandon Laan (43:07) came in second, followed by Brigham Young University-Hawai'i runner Jacob Puzey (43:18), who also finished third in last year's race.

Nicole Hunt, 36, of Montana, won the women's division in 49:39, followed by Bree Anne Wee (49:57) of Kona and Laura Fanelli (50:24) of Pennsylvania.

In the wheelchair division, husband and wife John and Christine Greer retained their Great Aloha Run titles, finishing at 45:08 and 52:35, respectively.

Madsen had been close before, placing third in 2003, second in 2004 and fourth in 2005.

Through the first two miles, it seemed like Madsen might come up short again.

"I didn't feel good," he said. "It was too early in the morning."

Just before the midway point, Madsen found his rhythm and made an aggressive move to try and distance himself from a pack of five runners.

"I wanted to see how strong the field was," he said. "I was able to get a gap and keep it."

Laan, who is originally from Ontario, Canada, said he also started slow, but felt better as the sun came out. He chased Madsen through the last four miles but couldn't bridge the 15-second differential.

"I could always see him, but I just couldn't catch him," said Laan, 23.

Hunt, the women's winner, said there are two things she doesn't like to do in races: lead the pack and run into the wind.

She found herself doing both in the last couple of miles as she pushed through a stiff headwind to stay ahead of Wee and Fanelli.

"I don't like to lead; I'd rather follow," said Hunt, who started the race behind three other women and slowly made her way to the front after the second mile. "In the last mile, I could hear (Wee) behind me. That kept me on my toes."

Hunt flew in from Deer Lodge, Montana, population 3,000. She said she learned of the Great Aloha Run while trolling the Internet for a "warm-weather run."

(The temperature in Deer Lodge was 15 degrees when she left.)

Yesterday's race was a learning experience for the first-timer Wee. An accomplished triathlete, Wee said she wasn't sure how to pace herself for the unusual 8.15-mile distance.

"It was an amazing race," said Wee, 27. "The volunteers were so encouraging and the competition was good."

Local runner Jonathan Lyau, 43, completed his 23rd Great Aloha Run in 47:50 despite nagging injuries in both feet and just three weeks of light training.

"I could barely walk after the (Honolulu) marathon," said Lyau, who won the Great Aloha Run in 1994 and 2002. "But I've done this race every year since it started and I wanted to continue.

"My goal was to run a six-minute (per mile) pace and I think I did that," he said, laughing. "But I'm breathing like I ran a five-minute pace."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.