Big Island International Marathon

Course was hilly..particularly for the first part. Last 6 miles or so very flat. Incredibly scenic. I loved the course. Everything about this marathon is very Hawaiian. Relaxed, not overly organized but completely sufficient. Everyone there to have a good time. Some fairly fast runners in the front but most just cruising and having fun. If you are even thinking about running this one, you should!

I ran this race while visiting a friend in Hilo and it was a pleasant surprise. The first 14 miles were hilly, but the final 12 were almost completely flat. This is a race to negative split. My watch registered a totally of 1000 ft of elevation, but the course map does not include this information. The marathon was on the smaller side (<100 runners), but there were aid stations every 2 miles. The marathon course overlapped with the half marathon course at times, so you weren't running alone for the entire time. The volunteers were incredibly friendly and although there were few spectators, they were incredibly enthusiastic. There wasn't much food at the end of the race, but I would use that as an excuse to eat at some of the local restaurants nearby. The course takes you by waterfalls and over bridges with spectacular views, but also by the airport at times. Overall, beautiful course and I would suggest driving it beforehand so you don't need to stop and take pictures while running, even though many people did.

I enjoyed running my 50th marathon state in Hawaii. The first 14 miles were exceptional in more ways than one could imagine. The ocean views and plant life along the route were wonderful. The surfers were having a great day. The hills were a surprise. The second half of the marathon course was a flat out and back route; passing by some beautiful ocean front parks, colorful water views, and great plant life. It did heat up for those of us running slower than 4 hour marathon times. My recommendation would be to update the marathon route map, to have a profile plot of the elevation of the course. I would have trained on hills, if I had known about the hills on this course.