What more can you ask for, Honolulu at its best, the Climb and Ascent of around Diamond Head, 26.2 miles of Aloha Spirit!

This was my first marathon and I know I could have easily cut my time by an hour if I hadn't been distracted by the sights. I had such a great time, but I must say the first 10 miles was like trying to speed in rush-hour traffic. The scenery and weather was so beautiful you hardly notice when you're on Diamond Head. I'd definitely run this one again.

I trained hard for this one! I bested my PR by 4 minutes, but this was no easy feat. Extremely crowded at sections, uphill several times and the headwinds made for a challenging run. That being said...HAWAII!!! Gorgeous views and friendly, helpful organizers. I would do it again but not for a PR--solely to enjoy hawaii with a killer 26.2 mile run mixed in for good measure. mahalo.

A large, fun marathon that features fireworks, outstanding views and a world-class finish area. The race start is very crowded (even with the chip my first mile was 15:30) as is the first trek up Diamond Head (runners at some spots are forced into a single file situation). Overall, tons of fun with excellent organization, It's da kine!

Hello to All - This was my 2nd marathon and it was an experience I will never forget.. I was not really happy with the time, although if you consider by 'weaving' I probably ran 30 miles, did quite well. I felt that Honolulu as a city welcomed the runners, decorated their city in a tropical Christmas fashion. To see and speak with people from all over the world was most gratifying. To see the support from the Japanease with huge smiles and banners waving was so motivational.
I would thoroughly enjoy running here again. The fan and aid station were excellent..the only downside was the expo... for the amount of people attending felt that it could have been friendlier and larger.
It is Oahu so much sightseeing to be done..My hats off to the organization and support of the city..

A San diego Runner

This was my 55th marathon and 1st HNL. Coming from MN, the weather was perfect for everyone else but still too warm for me. I'd run back-to-back 3:16's at Grandma's and TCM this year, so I had planned to run a sub-3:15. Didn't happen; no guts. I typically am fairly serious during marathons when others like to ham it up. However, for some reason, I laughed uncontrollably at Mile 16 when someone brought out a sound system and played the Venture's 1970 theme from Hawaii 5-0. The coolest thing of all was finishing ahead of my boyhood idol Frank Shorter, who unlike the other 'American Legends of Running,' didn't mind slogging it out with the masses. My time of 3:22:49 sucked like a Hoover, but I didn't care. This race is a lot of fun.

My only disappointment came at the start. I had picked up a 'drop bag' the day prior only to find out there was no 'drop' on race day. I stashed my stuff in a tree and came back for it later. It was still there. The most pleasant (and unexpected surprise) came in the form of a drink called Amino Vital. This stuff is only made in Japan and is absolutely phenomenal!!! For the first time in 55 marathons (spanning 28 years) I HAD NO LATE RACE CRAMPING - AT ALL!!! The next day I walked around Waikiki with no sore muscles anywhere. When I recall this to others, I still weep openly.

Nice job; want to return next year.

I've witnessed many NYC marathons, and finally ran this one as a debut. The atmosphere was fantastic from the start, with nearly 30,000 marathoners, most from Japan and out of town, wandering around Waikiki. This created a nice, pleasant 'athlete's village' type of atmosphere. I only wish I spoke some Japanese, which would have made it easier to meet and chat with folks.

The race itself is exciting, in part because of the local coverage, the number of visitors runing, and folks like Salazar, Shorter and Rodgers in town for the expo and race. Somehow, as exciting as NY is, the city is so big that the marathon can be swallowed up. That wasn't the case here.

I liked the afterparty in Kapiolani, although the large number of private tents for different teams and tours reduced mingling, at least if you are not with those groups. I agree with the earlier post that it was fun seeing everyone moving slowly in finisher shirts for the next few days.

I ran 3:30ish and had no real problem with the start, because I know from large NY races that you always set up ahead of your predicted finish. I was about 15 deep at the start and it was the right spot, although I was still passing people even then.

If there is any shortcoming, I would say that there could have been better transportation between the expo, finish area, etc. in the days before the race. I know that there was supposedly a Nike shuttle, but no one ever knew where it was. I did way too much walking around in the sun prior to the race. Just run shuttles up Kalakaua all day.

There also could have been some more food at the finish... basically, you could eat as many cookies as you wanted, but that was it. Throw in a few bagels or oranges or something....

But given that there were nearly 30K running, I'm not complaining. I loved all the local touches as well, such as the shell necklaces at the finish and the hula girls posing for pics. I'll be back for this race.

I went to Hawaii for a vacation...and just happened that a marathon was going on. (This is what I told my wife) This is my fifth marathon in the past 14 months and could be my favorite (May be a tie with Chicago). The race was very well organized from the expo to the finish. Water stops were incredible with the sponges and volunteers. The 5 am start was perfect...I had about 14 miles in before the sun came up so the weather was no factor at all. It was slightly breezy but nothing to write home about. If you did some basic hillwork, the Diamond Head hills were a breeze. I plan on running this race every other year if possible. The 10k walk during the marathon is an incredible idea for family members waiting for runners in the marathon. Los Angeles Marathon organizers, wake up and look at this warm climate race to learn how to run a great event. Honolulu, way to go!

Only gripes about the race was there was no pace groups, no gel stops, and not much in the way of organizing racers in the starting area based on pace. If you are moderately fast, get up front or you could be in for a long day. Overall a great course and well organized race. Do it someday!

This was my first Honolulu marathon and by far the largest marathon I've ever run (nearly 26,500 finishers!). 2002 Twin Cities and 2002 Boston were the only other fairly large marathons I've run (my others were 2001 Tucson and 3 others with less than 500 runners). The buzz around town before, during and after the race was amazing (especially all the limping around at the beach and all the 'finisher' t-shirts being worn everywhere you looked).

The early start wasn't too bad as I usually don't sleep to well the night before the race anyway. The fireworks were pretty cool. The weather was a little cooler than usual (they said) but the strong headwind made it tough going from miles 10 to 16 and the tailwind coming back certainly didn't offset.

My only complaint was the way they handled the line up for race. While they did have signs and ropes for predicted finish times (I think I saw 2-3 hours; 3-4 hours; 4-5 hours and 5+ hours), the signs were pretty small and there were no announcements to inform people. Given the huge number of slow runners and first timers, I made the mistake of following the rules by lining up at the start of the 3-4 hours areas since I planned on running about a 3:15. I fought the crowds for over 5 miles before being able to run a steady pace. I finished in 3:09:29 (or 218 overall) so I must have passed thousands of runners. I guess I could look on the bright side - I ran a negative split! Maybe they could work on informing people in the pre-race info and announcements (or even offering some seeded numbers).

Oh, one other cool thing about the course is that between miles 11 and 15 it overlaps with miles 22 to 18 so I was able to watch the leaders zooming back towards the finish as I was heading out. . . pretty cool.

The Brian Wilson show and luau was also well organized and worth the money (even if Brian had to clear his throat a few times! and the weather didn't exactly cooperate).

This was my first marathon, and I had a good experience overall despite a lousy running time.

The fans were great - everyone I passed was cheering and smiling, and seemed to really enjoy having us come and mess up their local traffic patterns.

The organization was pretty tight. Aid stations were well staffed and well stocked. The fireworks at the gun were spectacular. I would have liked to have seen a sports drink other than Amino Vital - since I've never seen it I didn't want to try it on race day - but that's a personal preference. There weren't enough portajohns for all - lines were long at location and many runners relieved themselves where ever they could. That's bad. Still, the post-race area was pretty extensive and had a lot of cool stuff.

I thought the course was boring. A simple out and back with not much vertical. I like vertical. There was a long stretch along a featureless highway, as well as through a development. Surely something a little more interesting could be found?

All in all, as I said, I had a great time. While I would have changed some things, I'd certainly recommend it for most runners; especially as a TNT, Joints, or AIDS Foundation option.

Cheers!