I have run this race in the past two years. The organization gets better every year. The course is tougher than expected due to the hills in the first half and the heat in the second half. But, what's not to like about running on Maui in January?

Overall, the race was fantastic. Despite running on the shoulder of a fairly busy road for the first 11 miles, then on the shoulder of a highway for the remainder of the race, the scenery more than made up for the traffic. When the sun rises above Haleakala revealing the beauty of Maui, it takes your mind mind off the task at hand.
The organization was great and very straightforward. The constant communication from the race director made everything very easy for someone from out of town.

The weather couldn't be beat. Coming from training runs in the ice, snow and below-zero temperatures, the Maui weather felt unbelievable. Although it was pretty warm by the end of the race, the aid stations were more than sufficient to supply water, sports drinks, gel shots, etc.

If you are looking for a big race, running with a huge throng of people, a big race expo, and lots of SWAG, this isn't the race for you. If you're looking for a low-key, warm-weather, getaway marathon with the Pacific Ocean constantly over your left shoulder, the Maui Oceanfront Marathon is well worth the trip.

This was a magnificent, beautiful course - second to none for sure. However, the entire race is uphill with the exception of about a 1/4 mile downhill into the tunnel. Do not believe any write-ups about it being "flat" - it is far from it. The heat may be a factor for some, but I found the breeze off the water and from the oncoming traffic to be enough to get me through. There are also ample water stations that are well stocked. I do recommend this race for the beauty and experience, but be prepared to run it for fun - not a course for a PR.

Read the director's notes about the course... it's pretty much as he described. I'd rate the difficulty as moderate. Weather conditions at race time will have more do to with your finish time than the difficulty of the course. Start temp was in the 60's but quickly rose to 80 with little shade.

Negatives: race director started the early start this year without waiting for the bus bringing the early starters, which he arranged... not cool. No water for several miles for early starters, so bring your own.

Suggestions: stay near the finish line. We stayed at Lahaina Shores, which was not on the accommodations list. It was THE closest to the finish (2 blocks) and had a pool. Car rental is a must. Spectators can drive to see runners all along the course. Lots of places to go and things to see on the island.

Really enjoyed the smallness of the race and the finish in Lahaina. Saw many whales during the run. If Hawaii is on your list, this is a must-do.

Good organization and beautiful location, but it is a tough course. The first couple of hours are in the dark or in the shade with nice trade winds. About 16 miles in it all changes, as it moves into the sun, and the breeze all but disappears. Please watch out for the thorns along the guard rail. I got some nasty scratches.

What a great place to run a marathon - and you're on vacation! I left the 40-50 temps in California, stepped off the plane and immediately felt the soothing 81-degree temp. Paradise! My muscles are going to enjoy this.

Went straight to the expo to pick up my bib. The expo was small but well organized. I believe this was the 2nd Maui Oceanfront Marathon, so there were not very many sponsors or freebies. I'm sure being far away from the mainland makes it tough for sponsors to ship their goods over. The T-shirt is one of my favorites. It has a picture of an Hawaiian with a throw net over his shoulder with 2 fish, looking out over the ocean.

Ok, the marathon started very early, as do most. But in this case it is probably to beat the heat. The ceremonial start was awesome - maybe a dozen Hawaiians in traditional dress, praying to the gods for our safety and well being, blowing their counch shells. I run with a Camelbak in all of my marathons so that I can drink at will, so the aid stations were not a factor to me. There was a lot of enthusiasm from the people at these stations though. The last half of the marathon was warm. I wish I had acclimated. The finisher medals are ok. The typical 5-year age group winner medals were not offered. There was a 40-60 age group award given. But hey, I'm there for the love of running and being with healthy people who
share this passion.

I stayed on Maui through the following week, attended a medical conference and enjoyed watching the whales. I will always winter in Hawaii. Boston 2010 is next.

Les, thanks for organizing and giving us such a great place to run.

Bob

I saw this race in Runners World Magazine and decided to do it because I love Maui as a vacation destination.

The morning of the half the race started on time in cool darkness. Although you run on the shoulder of the road, running with traffic, you have the beauty of the island and the ocean on your right. Although I didn't see a whale, it's because i was running a race, not whale-watching, which I had planned for later that day. I always run with a water belt so as to have my own hydration when needed, so I can't comment on the aid stations.

At the turnaround point for the half, the sun was up and thankfully at our backs. Whew. I could tell the humidity and intensity of the Maui sun would have made the race a real challenge, but thankfully, with early start time, it wasn't an issue.

At the end of the race, the gorgeous medal with the snapper fish around my neck made my day, even when I felt kind of lousy due to the heat.

Later on, in the hotel, when the results were already posted, I found out that the top 10 runners over 40 each received a medal. I won a medal and didn't know. It's my fault for not reading the awards section or for sticking around. I emailed Les the race director and he allowed me to meet him and pick it up a few days later. I truly appreciated that as we were leaving Maui shortly.

I'd definitely do this race again. Thank you, Les!

I have run many marathons as well as ultras, and I was very disappointed in the organization of this race. The location can't be beat and the course truly was beautiful... but the "good" ends there. The packet pickup was a disorganized mess. For starters, I felt some of the volunteers at registration/pick-up were downright rude. It was the first time in my life that I had to pay for a race poster. They are usually given out in your goody bag (which was non-existent, by the way) or given out free. Tech shirts for the race were unisex and HUGE! There was no mention of shirts running large. I felt so ripped off. I flew all the way to Hawaii to run a marathon and got a shirt that I can never wear, other than maybe as a nightshirt!

Ok... the race itself was beautiful and it was a nice touch at the start line to have the traditional Hawaiian sendoff, complete with a Hawaiian blessing and the blowing of a conch shell. Very nice. The course itself was billed as fairly flat and at sea level. This was not the case, as there are some pretty significant hills on this course for sure. Aid stations were friendly and good, and I have no complaints with that.

My biggest gripe lies at the finish and awards. The race director has a very strange attitude about age group placings. Either he is not aware or hasn't done much running himself. I am a 57-year-old runner, and not a super fast one at that... but nevertheless, I do often place in my age group and this time would have been no exception had he done the awards as other race directors do. Turns out when I checked, I was in a 40-60 age group (not 55-59). In all my years of running I have never seen this or even heard about it. At 57 years-old, how can I possibly compete with someone in their 40's who is still running a 3:15 marathon??? Placing in your age group is one of the advantages of getting older, as I could never score some hardware when I was young. I just was never fast enough. Now that I am older and placing, my medals have become important to me and I have become competitive within my division. I thought a 20-year age span for awards was very unfair. After the race, I took this up with the race director and his response was, "Well, we do things a little differently over here," meaning in Maui. Well, once again, it was a rude comment. This would be a wonderful race and a beautiful course if it were well organized, but I felt it was not. I even ran into a woman doing her very first marathon, yet when she crossed the line, they were out of medals and had to mail her one. Doesn't everyone remember getting their very first medal and how that felt, and how important it was to you??? This is wrong. I would definitely not run this again and would certainally not recommend this race to anyone. I would also never run any other of this RD's races again.

My wife and I ran the marathon and chose this one for the scenery, and we were not disappointed. The course was beautiful and the chance to watch whales while running was amazing. The hills in the middle were long, but not outrageous. The heat did start to bother us near the end, but we're training in 20-degree (F) weather, so we expected it. We took Endurolyte pills and carried a water bottle, so the watery sport drinks and distances between the aid stations were not a problem.

Pros:
The scenery - especially the whales.
The course - even along the highway - though it should be mandatory for people in convertibles to smile and cheer a little.
The pre-run ceremony.
The other runners - we chatted with runners from all over.
The folks at the aid stations (and the cookies).
The tech shirts and the local design.
The marathon medals were nice.
Soaking in the ocean after the run.

Cons:
Bring a water bottle or plan to stop and drink lots of the little Dixie cups of water so you can make it to the next aid station.
For slow runners (over 5 hours) the finish is anticlimactic - with the ceremonies over and fresh food gone. Other than the announcer as we crossed the finish and picked up our finisher medals, we had better post-run celebrations during training.

I would do the run again and recommend it to a friend with the caveat that they be prepared.

My comments are for the half. The course is along a busy highway with spectacular views of the ocean. Very few water stops, and if you are slow, no medals at the finish. Being Hawaii, it does get hot, so you will need to bring your own hydration because you can't count on enough water tables. The race director was very unfriendly when asked about the medals that they ran out of. Several of us don't know if we will ever receive one.