EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE RUNNING THE HONOLULU MARATHON,
there are several runs that you don't want to miss.
And if you're coming at a different time of the year,
these runs will help you see a part of Hawaii that most
tourists miss.
Mount Tantalus Run. Ron Gunn scouted this
run on our last trip to Honolulu several years ago.
You could start in Waikiki and run the full distance
and back for a distance of 18 miles, but that may
be a bit much only three days before the marathon.
A better strategy would be to take a taxi via Makiki
Street to the Maikiki Trailhead at 4001 Round Top
Drive. (Meet at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach at
6:30 AM.) Begin your run on the Trail, which eventually
comes out further down the mountain on Round Top Drive.
Running down the Drive, you will run past the mountainside
home of Jack Scaff, M.D., founder of the Honolulu
Marathon in 1972 and one of a handful of individuals
who has run each marathon since then. Near the bottom
of the Drive you will pass a pumping station and a
park. Continue on Makiki to Wilder and turn right
to the library on the corner of Wilder and Keeaumoku.
(There's water inside the library.) You can catch
a public bus back to Waikiki, or continue running
for approximately three more miles to the hotels.
Total distance downhill is 5.5 miles to the library,
9.0 miles back to Kapiolani Park.
Diamond Head Run. See:
Volcano Runs.
Ala Moana Run. An easy workout the morning before
the marathon is to run from your Waikiki Beach hotel
to Ala Moana Park. Head away from the beach to the
Ala Wai Canal and turn left, following the canal to
Ala Moana Avenue, then turn right and cross the bridge
and into the park. Head for Magic Island, where the
Canal meets the Pacific Ocean. If you time your run
right, you can arrive just before 7:00 AM and see
the sunrise. Continue around Ala Moana Park and check
out the starting line for tomorrow's race, returning
to your hotel via Ala Moana and Kalakaua Avenue, or
turning off on Harbor Road to run along the beach.
The total mileage for the run, depending on the location
of your hotel, is about 6 miles. The best time to
run these group workouts is 6:30 AM, just before sunrise.
