Based on my training, I was aiming for 3:20:00 or below. Still, I lined up in the "2 to 3 hour" area in the corral based on prior experience with people having no idea where to seed themselves at this race. Nonetheless, I wound up having to dodge and weave through people walking three or four abreast for the first mile and a half. As a result, my first mile was around 10:00. I knew I needed to average 7:36 to meet my goal, but I was never able to make up for that painfully slow start. I tried to eat it up in small chunks, but my average pace never got below 7:38. At the end of the race, my GPS said I ran 26.4 miles at a pace of 7:41.

Ran the first half around 1:41, and was hoping for a negative split to meet my goal time. The weather was nice and cool, and the pack was pretty wide open once I got through the chaos of the start. I felt like I managed my effort well, but the wind was brutal at times. It was pretty much a headwind for the first 18 or so miles, and I didn't realize how much fighting the wind had taken out of me until I was back on Kalanianaole. Wound up running the second half in almost exactly the same time as the first. Of course, if you take out the painfully slow first mile, I was 2:30 slower the second half.

After some stomach issues in recent races, I experimented by not drinking anything other than water the whole race. I managed on salt tabs, water, and gu. Felt great with no GI issues.

I had one pretty rough stretch between miles 21 and 22. I managed, however, to moderate the pace a bit (slowed to around 8:30) and then hold on until it passed. It hit me like a switch, and went away just as abruptly. One second I felt like crap, then the next I was back feeling strong and running at goal pace. Other than that mile, I was at or below my goal pace for everything but the first mile and the uphill miles. So, I can't really complain.

Force my way further to the front at the corral.

Nice cold shower at the finish, wandered around gathering my t-shirt and change of clothes, stood around for quite a while watching other people finish.


Crowd at the beginning; wind; limited miles in training.


This year was better than years past. More food at the finish line (the malasadas were a big hit), and it seemed that there were a lot more porta-pottys and stuff on the course. The race is still pretty heavily geared towards the Japanese visitors. So much so that I couldn't even figure out how to buy the Adidas stuff at the expo. Since Nike left as a sponsor, the merchandise has been pretty junk. Compared to major urban marathons with similar entry fees, the expo is pretty junk, too. People have been making the same complaints for years, but the organizers don't really seem to care. All in all, though, it's a really fun race, and the crowd support was great this year. As always, the volunteers were top notch, too.