INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:14:52. The Maui Marathon was my twenty-sixth 26.2-miler accomplished.

COURSE: The fire dancer performing during the opening festivities provided a good clue how warm the race was going to be: it was already 72 degrees at the start, high humidity with light wind from the northeast. Starting at the Queen Kaahumanu Center, our pre-dawn course took us on a pair of Kahului neighborhood streets before turning onto the Kuihelani Highway, where we were given one lane of the four-lane divided highway that took us by the sugar cane fields.

Before mile 7, we headed south on the Honoapiliani Highway as the sun began to rise. We felt the wind at our back as we had our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and neighboring island Kahoolawe as we approached Maalaea, located at the southern end of the isthmus. We would stay on the side of this two-lane road to Lahaina for the next 15 miles, sharing it with the traffic going in both directions. Not really a problem, for by now we were spread out along the course.

Up to this point we were on level ground, but that changed beginning at mile 8 when we encountered the Pali (Hawaiian for 'cliff') and started our ascent. We would climb approximately 100 feet over the next three or so miles. At around mile 12, we encountered the tunnel that would signal our descent back to sea level. It also meant we would no longer feel the benefit of the wind to cool us down, and with the sun in full force, it started to get a bit hot. Now traveling westward, we began to see surfers and paddle-boarders with neighboring island Lanai in the background, that is, when we were able to avoid the constant distraction of the traffic cruising by. Being on the leeward part of the island, it was fairly dry, with few trees around to give us cover. At mile 16, we briefly departed from the coast as we entered the village of Olowalu, with our course now heading northwest. The heat started to take its toll as our mile splits were getting longer and longer.

At mile 22, we entered the aptly named Lahaina (Hawaiian for 'cruel sun'), detouring from Honoapiliani Highway on Front Street. The protection provided by the homes, retail and dining establishments from the wind made this the hottest part of the course.

Leaving Lahaina, we returned back to Honoapiliani Highway at mile 24. Heading north, we could see neighboring island Molokai on our left as we headed to Kaanapali Parkway and Whalers Village, our final destination. Weather conditions at the finish: 84 degrees, moderate humidity, and 9 mph wind from the east.

ORGANIZATION: The expo was small and efficientone could retrieve his bib and tee shirt in as little as five minutes and be on his way. No problem with the 3:30 a.m. school bus that took us from the Westin Maui Resort in Kaanapali to the start in Kahului. The only negative that could be found were the misplacement of mile markers 7 and 13 (both were very early) and the absence of mile marker 25 on the course. Very short post-race party, it lasted less than the advertised 90 minutes.

FANS: Some Kahului residents turned out to see the runners early in the morning. Some of the cars along the Honoapiliani Highway honked and gave us the 'hang loose' sign. Also, there were some associated with the Japanese tour groups on hand to cheer us on every now and then.

CONCLUSION: If you like a true point-to-point course, without detours, loops, or out-and-backs, then this is one of the very few marathons for you. The easygoing attitude and the warm weather of the area will likely prevent you from setting a personal best here, but you will have a whale of a time running in this well established event.

I did the Full Warrior Challenge in the Maui Marathon. This means that you run a 10K 6:30am Sat, a 1 mile race 4pm on Sat & then run the full marathon 5:30am Sun. I went to the expo on Fri 12:15pm. It opened 12:00pm. I had ordered XS shirts & usually by the time I get to the expos they 'run out' of the XS shirts. So...when I went there early to get my XS shirts, & of course, they didn't have any XS (VERY frustrating!!!). The small shirts were HUGE (men's Small obviously!!!)!!! I'm not that tiny (like a lot of marathon runners) I'm 5'2 & 115lbs....I tried to find the race director for about 30 min without luck....I got 4 shirts, & I'm NOT able to wear ANY of them!! Also, The Warrior Challenge shirt didn't even explain what the challenge consisted of?!?!?! I think that the events should be listed on the shirt!! I won my age group in the 10K & the medal is HUGE!!! I also won a medal in the mile race & tried to get hold of someone so I could get it while in Maui (which I was there for 10 days)....but the only response I got was that they'd mail it to me (after reading another persons comment on here, I wonder if this will actually happen?!?!?).

The marathon was run along the highway which was HOT with minimal shade...even though we were right
next to the ocean. I trained in hot weather, but this was too much. I have run 34 marathons, & I started struggling at mile 9. Oh...well...
I finished just over 4 hrs & was surprised when I couldn't find anything to eat at the finish line!! I was offered 2 cups of water & that was it!!! I tried to find some salty foods, but had no luck at all!! VERY frustrating!! Luckily my family was there...

I spent a lot of money to go to this marathon & was VERY disappointed.....

Maui has to be one of the finest marathon destinations. I knew it would be hot so planned to carry water and don't forget your gels since they do not have gel on the course. The volunteers at the aid stations were very supportive and encouraged the runners. Interestly, facing the traffic on the highway helped keep me focused on the run during the last half of the marathon. This is not a spectator or entertainment rich marathon so go for all that Maui offers and check off Hawaii on the '50 States: shirt.

This race was well organized, well supported, and had a great after party. I really appreciated the fact that there was an aid station at least every mile for the last 10K, some even closer. The heat during those last 6-8 miles was definitely a factor, but the aid stations were well supplied with water, Gatorade, fruit( at some), and even otter pops at one of them. I would recommend this marathon for sure.

I have seen some of the recent comments and I am not sure what event these runners were at, but the maui marathon I just ran was great. Yes warm, but there were aid stations every 2 miles from start to finish with water and electrolyte drinks. They had fruit to eat prior and post race. They had live entertainment at the finish line, expo and luau. Race ran smooth. Chip timing was great and results were out quick. The expo had Hawaiian arts and crafts, but also had health and fitness items as well. A great destination race to go to.

We saw the previous years comments and didn't think it could be that bad.. we were wrong. At the expo, very little merchandise- mostly tourist stuff - soaps etc. Chaos at the registration tables as you had to go through multiple lines to sign up and pay etc. Shirts - mediocre. The course only had stations every 2 miles for the first 12 miles or so and it was 'HOT'. They also did not have any Gu....only water and a sports drink. A couple stations had grapes or oranges. No music on the course, no hula girls or spectators. We ran on the highway ( not many other options there on Maui). So we had traffic beside us for the entire race. Not sure what people are saying about the scenery being beautiful. September is the hottest month there and driest so even though we had the ocean on our left for part of the race, we had traffic and dry barren hills on the right. And to top it off, all they had at the finish line to eat was bananas and apples and water. If you wanted anything else, you had to pay for it. If you want to do a marathon in Hawaii - do the Kauai- not Maui.

This was the fifth marathon I have ever run and by far the WORST. Do not waste your precious training time and effort on this race. This race was extremely disorganized.

I placed second in my age group, which meant that I should have won an award (a whale plaque). It sounded awesome and I was so excited. I hung around afterward and finally found someone to talk to, but they said they did not have the awards ready to hand out and could not give them out until the evening award ceremony at 5 p.m. I was in no shape to stay for another 7 hours so I headed home and requested that the award be mailed to me. The award was never mailed and I have not received a reply to any correspondence sent to any of the addresses listed on the site. (I even offered to pick up the award from any address on Maui.) What a terrible way to be treated! I will never run this race again.

Having run the Maui Marathon 3 prior times, this year was only the 1/2 because I got married the day before. My wife-to-be was not thrilled at the prospect of a marathon the day after our wedding. Overall, the course is still the same and very enjoyable, and while some have complained about the lack of chip-timing, I didn't miss it. I don't think anyone is going to use Maui as a qualifier for Boston, given the heat, humidity and hills.

Course support was great as always, and while crowds are thin, you have the scenery to distract you. Goody bag and sponsor treats were slimmed down from prior years, but I attribute that to the economy.

The only thing that did annoy me was that they had no mile makers for the course. While many of us have GPS watches and the like, I like that mile marker to click off the mile in my head.

So after 3 Maui Marathons and 1 Maui 1/2 Marathon, I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for something new. Set your expectations: you're not going to get a PR and enjoy the run....

The most awesome, superb, and perfect race! Where else will you run/walk in a postcard-picture world between austere mountains and incredible blue oceans? It far surpassed my imagination of racing. The course was smooth and rolling. Very hot race though. The search for shade proved futile. But I plan to be there again next year!

Course is beautiful, no question. Got very hot after sun came up halfway, my pace dropped from 8:30 to 9:30 in a hurry and I limped in at 4:02. I thought the organization was pretty good, though I might change a few details - for instance the shuttle bus to start line leaves at 3 a.m., so you end up standing around the start until
5:30. Could have used that extra hour sleep.

I decided to do the Warrior Challenge, which added a 5K and 1-mile run on the day before the marathon. This was probably not a good way to spend the day before the race for me anyway - but I just can't say no to anything called "challenge," and the promise of a second medal and four t-shirts clinched it.

This was my first time in Maui and I went with the family and had a lovely holiday built around the race weekend. I saw some people complaining about the organization, but remember that this is still a fairly small race, with about a thousand runners in the half and 750 or so in the marathon. I thought they did a very good job, all things considered.