Maui Oceanfront Marathon

The marathon starts at 5 a.m., which is great to try to beat the heat. It is quite hilly! Better plan on that in your training. When the hills get tough, look to your left at the ocean and just keep repeating "I'm in Maui, this is beautiful!" The aide stations were all great. Many of them had people that would be out to greet you before you arrived telling you what would be available at that particular aide station. They don't have gels so bring your own. They did have snacks at all the aide stations but I brought my own gels and didn't want to 'try anything new on race day' but it was there if you wanted it. Water and Gatorade available at all aide stations. We used reusable cups, which I thought would be a hassle but it was fine and you didn't need to worry about throwing a cup in a trash bin. It smashed up pretty flat and I stuffed it in my running bra with no issues. The race start at The Shops at Wailea was perfect. Get there by 4:30 a.m. and use the flushing, clean bathrooms! It was great! Luckily I didn't have to use any of the porta potties but there were many along the course. The medal is beautiful! I like that the full marathoners got a bigger medal with a different color ribbon. The race shirts are awesome too! Race director, Les, is a hoot! He keeps you updated on all things race related. Don't worry about anything! We did the Whale Watching Dinner Cruise with Les and many other runners with their families which was amazing! Sign up as soon as he sends the email out because it fills up fast!!

I ran 59 marathons and this one was my last one on US soil and I can honestly say Les is the very best race director. He made this event even more perfect than just running with a full moon and roosters for the first half and watching whales on the second half. Flat and stunning course. Older runners could start earlier, which greatly help deal with the heat. Highly recommend! Les, keep up what you are doing!

Marathon #33 on course #27. It is Hawaii, so train for a hot race. Also, do some training runs with a headlamp, since the first half is run in the dark. A+ race director in terms of communication, organization and humor. Probably the best choice for this state if you are a 50-stater. The pre-race festivities at the start line were great, and the aid stations were the best that I've experienced.