Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Sports > Honolulu Marathon

Honolulu Marathon

By Kexin Zhang
Chaminade Silversword

Jason Nguyen, 24-year-old student from University of Hawaii at Manoa, a first marathoner, started training since January, after The Great Aloha Run. He runs three times a week, two short runs, one long run, and slowly builds up the miles. Two weeks ago Nguyen made 19 miles in three hours.

Honolulu Marathon is the 10th world’s largest marathons. The race began in 1973, on the second Sunday in December. Unique than American Marathons, Honolulu Marathon has larger registers from Japan. In 2008, 14,406 of the total 23,231 entries were from Japan, which nearly 62% of the field.

The 39th Honolulu Marathon will be held on Sunday, Dec. 11. By Nov. 28, 20,972 marathoners are already signed up for the 2011 Honolulu Marathon.

The race will start at Ala Moana Beach Park at 5 a.m. going toward downtown Honolulu, and from Nuuanu Avenue comes back to Ala Moana, around Diamond Head, keeps going on Kalanianaole High way until it reaches Hawaii Kai, and then double back to Kapiolani Park.

Glady Burrill, who just made her 93rd birthday on Nov. 23, also had been officially named the oldest female marathon finisher on Guinness World Records. She completed the record at last year’s Honolulu Marathon with 9 hours, 53 minutes and 16 seconds.

According to Honolulu Marathon Association spokesman Pat Bigold, Burrill already signed up for this year’s Honolulu Marathon.

The Honolulu Marathon also helps the economy. Last year it brought more than $100 million in spending.

“It's my hobby,” Nguyen said. “I always like to run a lot when I was in high school and military. Sign for the Marathon is a motivation to keep me in fit, I really enjoy it.”

Nguyen said long-term serious training is really important, he has been eating healthy and quit drinking since the training started. The key point from his experiences is to drink a lot of water before and after the race, staying hydrated makes a big difference on the performance.

The Honolulu Marathon Expo will be held at the Hawaii Convention Center Dec. 7 – 10, all the entrants are required to attend the Expo to pick up their race numbers and timing chips. The Expo is free and open to all the public, hoping to expand the number of attendees.

According to Pacific Business News, American Airlines said on Thursday that it has joined partner Japan Airlines as a sponsor of the Honolulu Marathon. Japan Airlines has been the title sponsor of the race since 1985.

“I want to complete in a good time,” Nguyen said. “I want to be running in 9 minutes 30 seconds per mile. That's my goal, to finish it under 4 hour, so next year I can try to beat that time.”