Honolulu Marathon

The Honolulu Marathon is the world's sixth largest marathon. [ http://aimsworldrunning.org/statistics/World%27s_Largest_Marathons.html#2007] It takes place annually in Honolulu, Hawaii on the second Sunday in December.

History

The race began in 1973. During its formative period (1973-1978) the Honolulu Marathon doubled in size every year—a rate that has been equaled only once.Fact|date=March 2008 That growth, like the growth of long-distance running itself, came about not from an interest in competition, but from a quest for personal longevity and an enhanced quality of life.Fact|date=March 2008

At the forefront of the growth of the Honolulu Marathon was cardiologist Jack Scaff, one of the first physicians to prescribe running as therapy for heart disease. In 1977 Sports Illustrated's senior writer and Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore wrote a feature story about the race. That article was soon followed by the book "The Honolulu Marathon," by journalist Mark Hazard Osmun; the book was a revelatory chronicle of the then-unfolding social craze called the "Running Boom," as exemplified in the Honolulu event.

Over time, the race grew and changed, luring large corporate sponsors and paying substantial prize money to the winners. In 1995, the Honolulu Marathon enjoyed the distinction of being the world's largest marathon when it drew 34,434 entrants.Fact|date=March 2008

Unique to the Honolulu Marathon among American marathons is its popularity among runners from Japan, where there are very few marathons open to all entrants. In recent years, the majority of entrants have been visitors from Japan. The marathon is popular enough that the Honolulu Marathon Association maintains an office in Tokyo to process entries. Japan Air Lines has been the title sponsor of the race since 1985, and four of the five supporting or contributing sponsors are Japanese companies (the only American sponsor is Nike, and the Saturn Corporation has been the official car supplier since 2007).

In 2006, 17,905 of the total 28,635 entries were from Japan, which made up nearly 62.5 percent of the field.Fact|date=March 2008

Course

Starting near Ala Moana Beach Park across from Ala Moana Center, the course progresses west along the waterfront toward downtown Honolulu, then loops through downtown and bends back east through Waikiki, around Diamond Head, and out toward the eastern suburbs of Honolulu, winding through Hawaii Kai before doubling back toward the finish line at Waikiki's Kapiolani Park. Marathoners consider the course moderately difficult because of the tropical weather conditions, with temperatures starting at around 65°F (18°C) and rising to as high as 80°F (27°C), and a relatively hilly course compared with other marathons. Nevertheless, the race also remains a popular choice for first-time marathoners.Fact|date=March 2008

atellite races in Iraq and Afghanistan

The Honolulu Marathon has been popular with U.S. military personnel stationed in Hawaii.Fact|date=March 2008 With many Hawaii-based troops deployed abroad, the marathon coordinated with the military to organize satellite marathon races on U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan on the same day as the main race, with finishers receiving the same T-shirts and medals. The first such race was held in 2004 at a U.S. base in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan. In 2005, the marathon organized a similar race at Camp Victory in Baghdad.Fact|date=March 2008

Finishers

In recent years, on average, about 25,000 runners finish the Honolulu Marathon each year, and it has consistently placed among the world's ten largest marathons in terms of total finishers. Entry to the Honolulu Marathon is open to anyone who can pay the entry fee. Unlike other marathons of similar size, popularity, and stature, there are no qualifying standards to meet, no fixed limits on the number of runners, and no time limit to finish the course (all runners receive an official time and certificate).

Over the past 34 years, more than 585,000 runners have started the Honolulu Marathon, with over 482,000 finishers, for a finishing rate of over 82%. [ cite web|url=http://www.honolulumarathon.org/l/Facts___Figures/stats/champions.htm |title=Champions 1973-2006 |accessdate=2007-05-25 |date=2001-12-21 |publisher=Honolulu Marathon ]

Winners

Although the difficulty of the course precludes world-record pace performances, winners of the Honolulu Marathon have used it as a stepping stone to greater achievements. For instance, three-time winner Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya later won the Boston Marathon three times; and 1993 winner Bong-Ju Lee won the silver medal in the 1996 Olympic Marathon in Atlanta.

Men

Women

Deaths

*2002 Grant Hirohata-Goto, 33

Timing Problems in 2007

In 2007 the Marathon organizers switched from the ChampionChip timing system they had used since 2000 to a new system from SAI which utlized a smaller, lighter, chip implanted in a strip of paper. For a myriad of reasons that are not yet entirely clear (heavy rains, improper usage, failed generators) the timing devices apparently failed to accurately record the start, split and finish times of all 24,300 participants, forcing race officials to manually review finish line video tape of all 24,000+ runners in order to confirm their correct finishing times. [ cite web|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Dec/14/ln/hawaii712140376.html |title=All 24,000 Honolulu Marathon times flawed|accessdate=2007-12-14 |date=2007-12-14 |publisher=Honolulu Advertiser]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.honolulumarathon.org Honolulu Marathon website]
* [http://marathoninfo.free.fr/historique/honolulu.htm Marathon Info]
* [http://www.honolulumarathon.org/0309hurlburt.pdf Account of the 2004 Honolulu Marathon satellite race in Afghanistan] (PDF)
* [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Dec/19/ln/FP512190321.html Honolulu Advertiser - report on 2005 satellite race in Iraq]
* [http://www.geocities.com/raymondrjs/marathonwhy.html Why I Run the Marathon] Memoirs of a runner who has completed 3 Honolulu Marathons.
* [http://www.mreplay.com/view_video.php?viewkey=57c09f26675f9cf5bcba&page=1&viewtype=&category=mr Videos of Honolulu Marathon on mReplay.com]