HONOLULU — Founded by Honolulu cardiologist Jack Scaff, who passed in September at the age of 87, the venerable Honolulu Marathon celebrated its 50th running of the 26.2-mile marathon in paradise early Sunday morning.

The fourth largest marathon held in the United States behind New York, Chicago and Boston, the Honolulu Marathon has no time limit and every entrant is guaranteed a finish time — run, jog or walk.

World-class elite athletes assembled to compete in the 2022 Honolulu Marathon include Shifera Tamru and Asefa Mengstu from Ethiopia, and Barnabas Kiptum and Reuben Kerio from Kenya in the men’s division. Ethiopian athletes Abebech Afework Bekele and Asayech Ayalew Bere, Mai Ito from Japan (a first-time competitor in the Honolulu Marathon) and Lanni Marchant from Canada, who won in 2021, make up the elite women racers.

Nearly 15,000 athletes were off to a 5 a.m. start through a varied course that offered a bit of history as it took them into downtown Honolulu and past Iolani Palace and the holiday cheer of the Honolulu City Lights at Honolulu Hale. The course then heads into Waikiki, then up and around Diamond Head, before entering the Kahala and Hawaii Kai areas. The return route took participants through the same neighborhoods before finishing at Queen Kapiolani Park.

With a finish time of 2:14:40, Asefa Mengtsu took the men’s division of the Honolulu Marathon and Asayech Ayalew Bere took the women’s division at 2:30:58 for an Ethiopian sweep of the marathon’s 50th anniversary, according to Rich Sands of Race Results Weekly. Both earned $25,000 for their respective wins.

Dr. Jim Barahal, president and CEO of the Honolulu Marathon, officiated a special 50th Honolulu Marathon Opening Ceremony held on Saturday. Torchbearers representing the past, present and future of the marathon lit five torches, with each torch representing a decade of the Honolulu Marathon.

Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.