Hawaii Marathons

Honolulu

Honolulu International Marathon - December. The race starts on Ala Moana Boulevard. The second mile of the course runs along Honolulu harbor and the historic Aloha Tower. Runners turn into Chinatown and proceed through Downtown Honolulu on South King Street. The race forks onto Kapiolani Boulevard through urban Honolulu and in the fourth mile turns back toward the start down Piikoi Street. The course returns to Ala Moana Boulevard, this time passing Ala Moana Center, a huge, open-air mall with more than 200 stores. The bridge spanning the Ala Wai Canal marks the entrance to Waikiki. Mile five races through the concrete jungle of Waikiki high-rise hotels and condominiums, by the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the U.S. Army's Fort DeRussy. The course turns onto Kalakaua Avenue lined with shops. Just past the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, Waikiki's oldest hotel built in 1901, is a spectacular ocean view – world-famous Waikiki Beach. Near the sixth mile, the course forks onto Monsarrat Avenue, around the Honolulu Zoo and past the Waikiki Shell. Runners turn onto Paki Avenue which threads around Kapiolani Park, Hawaii's first public park. As the course nears Diamond Head, an extinct volcanic crater 760-feet high, there are some short, uphill grades and breathtaking views of Oahu's south coast. The route circles the crater on Diamond Head Road, turning uphill to 18th Avenue. The race turns onto Kilauea Avenue in the tenth mile, passing through residential and commercial areas of Kahala then merges into Kalanianiole Highway. This coastal route continues for four miles through the bedroom communities of Waialae Iki, Aina Haina, and Niu Valley. In the sixteenth mile, runners turn onto Hawaii Kai Drive into the Kaiser valley community. The course through residential Hawaii Kai loops around an inland waterway. The course turns back onto Kalanianiole Highway at Maunalua Bay Beach Park. For the next four miles, runners double back along Kalanianiole Highway passing Kawaikui and Wailupe beach parks. At mile 22, the course turns onto Kealaolu Avenue along the Waialae Country Club. At the road's end, the route turns onto Kahala Avenue, a neighborhood of luxury homes fronting Kahala Beach and Black Point. Kahala Avenue turns into Diamond Head Road at mile 24, circling back around Diamond Head crater. As the last mile of the course curves around Diamond Head toward the finish in Waikiki there is Cliffs, a popular surfing spot, and the Diamond Head Lighthouse. At the tip of Kapiolani Park, runners fork onto Kalakaua Avenue. The last stretch of the race runs along the park past Sans Souci Beach and the Waikiki Aquarium to the Finish Line near the bandstand.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Kilauea Volcano Wilderness Marathon - July. The marathon take place off road on unpaved trails in the famous Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The marathon covers extremely rough and uneven terrain, lava fields in a desert area and requires two 1,000 foot elevation changes. Weather can change from cool and dry to torrential downpour during the race. Start at 4,000 foot elevation run down to 3,000 foot and then run back up to finish at 4,000 foot level. Climate and terrain changes from wet, muddy rainforest to dry, hot desert lava fields over course of race. Considered an ultramarathon by many runners.