The Honolulu Marathon December 14th, 2008 The 36th Annual Honolulu Marathon! |
What the Honolulu Marathon website doesn't tell you.
The Honolulu Marathon is an A to B run that starts at 5:00AM.
Recommend, you and your supporters become totally aware of this.
This impacts upon getting to the Starting Line
as well as from the Finish Line.
and cheering for you along the course.
The Honolulu Marathon starts on Ala Moana Boulevard in front of Ala Moana Park
on the downtown side of Ala Moana Shopping Center.
(1st, please note: If you are not from Hawaii, 'Ala' is pronounced
as in 'ah la' not as in the guy's nickname 'Big Al.')
The Honolulu Marathon ends on Kalakaua Avenue in Kapiolani Park.
The Start and Finish are approximately
2.5
miles apart.
If you are staying in Waikiki, your hotel will be somewhere in the middle.
Closest hotels to Starting Line: Ala Moana & Hawaii Prince Hotels.
Closest hotels to Finish Line: Park Shore, Waikiki Grand & Queen Kapiolani Hotels.
Before Race advice:
Most runners stay in a Waikiki Hotel and walk to the starting line.
This is probably a sensible thing to do.
No City Buses run in Waikiki before 5:00AM. (There is a Free Shuttle Bus, actually, there are many.
But if you are the type that gets antsy waiting, the walk is not far.
Actually, if yo want to stretch your legs a bit, or
if you stay at the Hilton or Ilikai or Ala Moana Hotels,
we recommend you walk.)
A taxi ride across Waikiki costs a little less than $7.00. At 4:00 AM,
your competition for a taxi,
is the homeward bound Waikiki Disco Crowds.
Due to the runners lining up before the race,
your taxi will not be able to drive too far on Ala Moana Boulevard.
Do not attempt to drive a rental car
to the starting line.
Your hotel may be the closest place you can park. Also, it probably has the best toilet.
Speaking of toilets.
While thee are many porta-potties near the Starting Line, and along the course,
there are many more nervous runners. We recommend you plan ahead.
While you need fluid,
do not over indulge in liquids before the Marathon.
The very long waiting lines will directly effect your finishing time.
So, plan ahead.
Make sure, the last thing you do,
before heading for the starting line
is use your hotel room facilities.
If you want to chow down (to each their own)
before the Fireworks and the race gun going 'Bang',
we recommend the popular
Waikiki diner,
Eggs'N Things,
at 1911 Kalakaua Avenue.
It serves breakfast all night long with large portions & low prices.
Walk past Fort DeRussy Park & go 100 yards past the Ala Moana Boulevard intersection.
Get there at 3:30 AM, have breakfast and then walk the 15 minutes to the Starting Line.
We may do this. If you see us, Sandy & Dennis, say "Hello".
It is cool in Honolulu at 5:00 AM.
We recommend you wear over your running outfit, an extra Old T-Shirt or long sleeve shirt
that you no longer want to keep. Wear it for the pre race warm up and maybe
for the first two miles or so. Then as your body adjusts and warm up,
just discard the old shirt in a trash can.
Advice for your supporters.
The Honolulu Marathon 3rd largest in USA &
6th
largest in the world.
This year, 2007, it may move up a notch, due to the Chicago turmoil.
In
2006 the Honolulu Marathon had 24,526 finishers,
2006 Marathon totals:
New York 37,900
Chicago --33,600*
London ---33,200
Paris ------30,700
Berlin -----30,100
Honolulu -24,500
Marine Corps 20,900 (Washington DC)
Los Angeles
20,300
Boston ---19,600
(All Finisher totals were rounded down to hundreds due to inconsistencies observed on various websites)
How Honolulu is different from typical Marathons.
A normal US marathon is 60% male and 40% female.
In 2006, the Honolulu Marathon was 52.5% male and 47.5% female.
(So, women, if you want to help make this the first mixed marathon
to be more than 50% female, come on over.)
The high female count is due to the influx of young Japanese women
in the 20 something and early 30 something age groups
who flock to the Honolulu Marathon. In 2006, 69% of the Finishers
were from Japan. The majority are females.
(So, guys, if you want to meet young Japanese women,
here is your chance. Come on over.)
In a normal US marathon more than 90% of the runners are from the USA.
Finishers in the 2006 Honolulu Marathon: 69% from Japan and 29% from the USA.
So, don't be surprised if you feel you are running in a foreign country.
Also, JAL (Japanese Air Line) is the Major Sponsor and has the primary after the race, reception area.
So, if you didn't fly to Honolulu on Japan Airlines you will not be welcome in the JAL reception area.
Crowd Support:
Although the Honolulu Marathon is one of the largest races in the world,
do not anticipate too much crowd support along the sidelines.
There are several practical reasons for this. The Honolulu Marathon starts early, at 5:00AM.
Only, your very best friend would awaken before 4:30 AM to cheer you at the start.
The first 100 finishers cross the finish line before 8:00 AM.
The common citizens are just starting to wake up at that time.
Less than 18% of the Finishers are from Hawaii. So, locals have no relationship with 80% of the runners.
This race has no required finish time. Half the Finishers come in after 5 hours and 43 minutes.
This means they average more than 13 minutes per mile. This is little more than a fast walk.
So, while we can salute their endurance, it is not too exciting to watch.
However, it does give you ample opportunity to talk to your neighbor runner.
The average slow jogger or fast walker would pass through the Waikiki hotel area (Mile 5) before 6:30 AM.
Miles 11 to 15 and 18 to 22 are along a major highway with very few homes.
Miles 7 to 9 and 24 to 26 are around Diamond head Crater, where there are very few homes.