HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A record 42,000 runners will hit the streets in a wet Honolulu Marathon this Sunday.
But that isn’t dampening the mood for many who are visiting Hawaii for the first time.
“It’s our first marathon ever, so yeah, very exciting,” said Calum Watson, who is running with friend Robbie Tooth. Both are visiting from Sydney, Australia.
“We’re raising a bit of money for Beyond Blue. It’s a mental health charity in Australia,” Tooth said. “We’re trying to spread the message of starting the chat about mental health and just making it normal so people can speak up about how they feel.”
More than 71% of race participants are from outside Hawaii, and of those, nearly half are from Japan.
About 40% of this year’s runners are first-time marathoners, and 60% have never been to Hawaii until now.
All of them will brave Hawaii’s signature warm temperatures, humidity and iconic slopes of Diamond Head, and this year, they’ll have the added challenges of slippery roads and wind gusts due to a front arriving in the islands.
Race organizers saw a 30% jump in signups from pre-covid numbers, injecting at least $300 million into the local economy and even more down the road.
“Many of the people that come here specifically for the Honolulu marathon will get their first exposure to Hawaii, fall in love with the islands, and come back at other times. So it’s a huge economic impact,” said Honolulu Marathon CEO Jim Barahal.
Driving the boom — adults ages 25 to 35 who say running is good a way to connect with loved ones and meet new people.
“I train with my wife all the time. She’s a marathoner, and I just wanted to see what it was like,” said Jordan Moran, from New York. “I’m married, but I hear that if you wear all black, then that means you’re single and so it’s sort of become a new thing with younger daters, I suppose.”
Daisuke Yoshida, from Nagoya, Japan, joined a running club in New York and met Jason Geller, who suggested Yoshida run his first marathon in Hawaii.
“He asked me to because since he’s running, so I feel good, somebody experienced,” Yoshida said.
“My first ever marathon was in 1998 here in Honolulu,” Geller said. “[Yoshida} didn’t get into New York or Philadelphia, so I said ‘let’s go to Hawaii.’”
Even the dreary forecast for Sunday didn’t dim the spirits of the most novice marathoners, who seemed to be already on a runners’ high.
“It’ll cool us off and then we’ll be able to see some rainbows,” Geller said.
“I did one race in New York with rain, but I have mixed feelings if it’s raining,” Yoshida said. “I prefer sunny, but let’s see, it’ll be warm.”
“I hear duct tape actually really helps on your sneakers, so I’m going to wrap my sneakers up and also Vaseline on my toes,” Moran said.
Aussies Tooth and Watson said they had no idea what the weather would be like, but they’re ready for the challenge.
“Rain, hail or shine,“ Tooth said. ”We’ll give it a good go.”
So while conditions may not be ideal for personal record times or even for the marathon’s defending champion elite runners, anything is possible.
Sunday’s marathon will be livestreamed online here and on a special edition of Sunrise on K5.
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