SAN DIEGO - A sister act from Japan proved to be a hot show on a morning when more than 7,000 half marathoners were baked by a rising sun.

Hiromi and Takami Ominami, who could certainly lay claim to being the fastest twins among female distance runners, placed 1-2 Sunday at the 30th annual EAS America's Finest City Half Marathon. And while it seemed that Kenya's Nelson Kiplagat had a twin for more than nine miles, he eventually pulled away for the men's crown.

Hiromi, the older of the two Ominami sisters by 10 minutes, held her advantage over her sister while stopping the watches in 1 hour, 12 minutes, 49 seconds for a wire-to-wire victory. Takami was more than two minutes behind her sister in 1:14:58 as the pair placed 1-2 in a race for the first time since the 2000 Miyazaki Half Marathon.

"They train together, but when it comes to races, we usually separate them," said Masa Takahashi, who has coached the 31-year-old siblings for the past five years. "When they are in the same race, they are rivals."

Hailing from Fukui, Japan, the Ominamis had a specific reason for making their first appearance in the AFC Half Marathon. They are currently training in Boulder, Colo., in preparation for the Tokyo International Women's Marathon in November.

"Tokyo has the same type of course as this," Hiromi said through Takahashi, who also serves as the sisters' translator. "Downhill at the start, then level with a hill toward the end."

But the Ominamis had never scaled a rise the likes of the Sixth Avenue hill, which climbs nearly a mile from downtown San Diego to Balboa Park.

"The first part of the hill is not so hard," Hiromi said, "but after the aid station it is very hard."

Takami said that she was hoping "to run more closer" to her sister.

"I wanted a better time," she said.

But after running in third place at the halfway point, Takami overcame Kenya's Leah Kiprono after Mile 9 to secure second place.

Three more women also passed Kiprono down the stretch, with Magdalena Lewy-Boulet of Oakland taking third in 1:15:22 for her second straight top-three finish.

Lewy-Boulet, 34, was the women's runner-up last year, although she ran more than a minute faster this year.

The men's race was decided after Mile 9 when Kiplagat, 27, separated himself from Tesfaye Girma when the Ethiopian began to suffer from a stomach ailment.

"I wanted to go for a course record (1:02:24), but I had a problem with my back," said Kiplagat, another first-time AFC Half participant who is originally from Eldoret, Kenya, and now trains out of Nairobi. "The downhills made it tighten up. This course is very hard."

Kiplagat, who placed third at the Falmouth Road Race last week in Falmouth, Mass., pulled away from the pack after just three miles, and the only runner who stayed with him was Girma. The pair ran shoulder-to-shoulder until just after Mile 9, when Girma suddenly faded.

"I really was not feeling good," said Girma, 24. "I was not tired, but my stomach was hurting."

By Mile 10, Kiplagat had an 18-second lead over Girma.

On the Sixth Avenue hill, where many previous AFC Halfs have been decided, Kiplagat was already three blocks up the hill when Girman made the turn from A Street to Sixth.

Girma finished nearly two minutes behind Kiplagat in 1:06:20. Josphat Ndeti of Kenya maintained third place throughout the run and finished in 1:06:41.

The top San Diego-area finishers were Sean Zanderson among the men and Dianna Chivakos among the women.

Both San Diego residents, Zanderson placed 10th in 1:11:02, and Chivakos was 13th among the women in 1:24:57.

Oceanside's Sean Birren, who won the La Jolla Half Marathon in April, was the top North County finisher with a 13th-place time of 1:12:56, just ahead of 14th-place finisher Paul Wellman of Encinitas. Sarah Cowles of Del Mar was the top North County woman in 1:30:18, good for 27th place among the females.

Sunday's AFC 5K winners were William Bohlke of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and Cheryl Anderson of Richmond, Va. Bohlke edged former Torrey Pines High standout James Sheremeta of La Jolla by two seconds with a winning time of 15:55. Anderson finished 50 seconds ahead of the women's field and placed eighth overall with a time of 17:34.

The half marathon had an early sellout of 7,800 entries, of which 6,483 finished on a morning when temperatures soared into the high 80s before many of the runners had completed the course. The 5K had 1,170 finishers.

- Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com.

AFC Half Marathon results

Point Loma to Balboa Park

Overall Leaders

Half Marathon

Male

1. Nelson Kiplagat (Kenya) 1:04:25, 2. Tesfaye Girma (Ethiopia) 1:06:20, 3. Josphat Ndeti (Kenya) 1:06:41, 4. Richard Kimeli (Kenya) 1:07:49, 5. Francis Githama (Kenya) 1:07:54, 6. Maciek Miereczko (Poland) 1:08:22, 7. Carlos Carballo (Cathedral City) 1:08:39, 8. Aaron Sharp (Port Hueneme) 1:09:08, 9. Jason Warick (Canada) 1:09:38, 10. Sean Zanderson (San Diego) 1:11:02.

Female

1. Hiromi Ominami (Japan) 1:12:49, 2. Takami Ominami (Japan) 1:14:58, 3. Magdelena Lewy-Boulet (Oakland) 1:15:22, 4. Evelyn Lagat (Kenya) 1:16:39, 5. Sally Myeroff (Tempe, Ariz.) 1:1:39, 6. Leah Kiprono (Kenya) 1:17:20, 7. Lilian Chelimo (Kenya) 1:21:29, 8. Emily Brzozowski (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 1:23:00, 9. Mary Coordt (Elk Grove) 1:23:44, 10. Mary Alico (Boulder, Colo.)1:24:14.

5K

Male

1. William Bohlke (St. Croix, V.I.) 15:55, 2. James Sheremeta (La Jolla) 15:57, 3. Bill Raitter (Twain Harte) 16:02, 4. Troy Harrison (Hustontown, Pa.) 16:03, 5. Leobardo Lopez (Anaheim) 16:23.

Female

1. Cheryl Anderson (Richmond, Va.) 17:34, 2. Elizabeth Tacl (St. Cloud, Minn.) 18:24, 3. Varinka Barbini (Lexington, Ky.) 18:29, 4. Polly Crawford (Temecula) 20:07, 5. Kristen Gonzalez (Chula Vista) 20:19.