I ran this marathon two years ago, and it seems to have gone downhill since then. I still like the course but the aid stations are spaced far apart at times. If you are going to run this marathon, bring your own water bottle. Also, this year most of the aid stations only had water when I got to them. Thanks to the Team in Training and AIDS Foundation coaches and support crews for taking care of the slower runners when the aid stations weren't prepared. Finally, the finisher's shirts: two years ago, it was a nice technical shirt, and there were plenty of sizes left when I finished. This year they only had men's cotton t-shirts, which wouldn't be that bad except that by the time I finished (the same time as two years ago), there were only extra large shirts left! Most marathon runners, especially female runners, don't wear men's extra large t-shirts. This was my favorite Hawaii marathon until this year.

The advertisement claims this is a "Maui Paradise Marathon." There is nothing even close to paradise. The course itself is beautiful, but it should start 5 a.m. or even 4:30. I don't mind electric cars or bikes, but the route should be CLOSED for cars running on gas.
Little did I know that I'd be running on the shoulder of a road with heavy traffic. If I wanted to inhale burned gas, I could stay home and do it free. There was barely any O2 left in the tunnel - it was bumper to bumper, with cars revving their engines.

After running San Diego and San Francisco, I was expecting environmentally-friendly event. I was disappointed.

The expo was really sad. And, finally, for $100, all I got is cheap cotton t-shirt and barely any post-race food.

I still want to thank the volunteers and the police officers.

My suggestion is:
Make this marathon GREEN and stop the traffic for 6 hours; leave the lanes only for bikes and walkers. It could be great event!

I ran the half in 2008. This is a great run on an incredible island. It starts out early in the day, but given the heat and humidity under the sun, it's worth getting up at 3 a.m. Most people come from the west anyway, so the jet lag is actually a good thing from this point of view. The aid stations are great - those ice cold sponges were awesome. Very well organized, descent expo, nice medal. Would have preferred a "technical" shirt, but the cotton tee was still a nice touch. If you're considering running this and you've never been to Maui, use the race as your excuse. Maui a beautiful island and there's lots to do besides lie on the beach.

I agree with everything JT from Massachusetts said. The items that were within the control of the race director were handled extremely well. The weather is not within his/her control so you can't really criticize anyone for the heat. You are running a marathon in Maui in September. It is what it is. It was definitely hot though. It helped that the race had more water stations than any race I have ever seen and a lot of cold sponges. I loved the stretch of the race that went through Lahaina - those people turned out in droves. Other than that spectators were few and far between but I wasn't really expecting much in that regard. The post-race party was really fantastic - free beer and pizza and no one really cared if family members grabbed food and suds. You don't want to go into this race with high expectations for a great performance/time. Although I didn't find the hills all that difficult really, the heat more than made up for that. Just do this one for the experience or as a training run like I did and you will really enjoy yourself.

Ran the half this year, and finished before the heat got bad. Brought our trainer and he won it! Ran the full in 2005, and while Maui is the best, the heat got unbearable by the end. Volunteers and sponges were awesome!

Going into this marathon, I knew it would be hot and hilly, so I did not pursue a specific time goal, especially since heat combined with running is not a great combo for me. This marathon was going to be about the view and the experience. I finished the course 30 minutes later than my usual time, but finished with a huge smile on my face and with no injuries! The volunteers were awesome and I loved the sponges with ice. I thought it was the most organized marathon that I have run to date. Thank you to everyone who volunteered - you made a huge difference! I also appreciated the energy and enthusiasm of the MC - he was very entertaining! As for the finisher's t-shirt, I would have preferred a technical shirt. I loved the ones that were sold at expo with the map!

The bases were covered in the 2008 Maui Marathon. Pre-race packet pick up was efficient, bus logistics to the start went smoothly, race started on time, chip timing, more than enough water stations (with ice sponges), super friendly volunteers, an organized finishing area, a colorful and unique medal, adequate post-race food and a nice finisher's party. Many race's don't pull off all of these details... but Maui did. The heat/humidity is the heat/humidity; there's nothing race officials can do about that other than ensure a sufficient number of stations that are adequately supplied (which Maui did). Auto traffic is close to the runners during much of the course, and that's a bit of a negative, as runners need to keep a continuous eye on oncoming traffic. However, with the limited available road surface in Maui, I suspect roads can't be closed solely to runners. Tightly-spaced orange cones managed the situation for the most part. Overall, a nice race, and one that I would recommend to my fellow 50-staters looking for their Hawaii marathon.

First off, Kevin, thanks for chasing me down and returning my sunglasses! That probably would have made the four other hours I was on the course pretty rough. Second, the volunteers in the race were incredible - so many great young kids spending a perfectly good day in Maui handing water and sponges to a bunch of nuts. I decided there were no spectators because they were all volunteering. The course is along a highway, so there's really not a great place for spectators anyway. You can't beat the views of the ocean on your left and the mountains on the right. The tradewinds took the weekend off, so that made the heat a little more intense, but weather presents a different challenge in every marathon.

The expo was a little weird; there's not much signage letting you know which way to go, or even folks pointing it out to you. I found it, so I guess they had enough.

I was concerned after reading some of the 2007 comments about the new director, but it seems like they listened to some of the comments from the last year (ice sponges), so I hope they will continue to improve. If I could run it again tomorrow, I would!

This marathon was covered in VOG, and run at 91 degrees with almost no spectators. The volunteers were outstanding. For the price, we should have received a well thought-out technical t-shirt - not a simple cotton tee. I thought the finish area and expo were tiny.

It was hot and humid, with a very heavy volcanic haze this year. Usually prevailing trade winds make the weather much more bearable.