HONOLULU — In 2023, the elite runners came back in force. In 2024, everyone else followed suit.

At least 35,000 runners are entered for this weekend’s 52nd Honolulu Marathon activities — a combination of the 26.2-mile main event, the Start to Park 10K and Kalakaua Merrie Mile — breaking the 1995 record of 34,414, per race officials.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 35,000 people are entered for the 52nd Honolulu Marathon and the Start to Park 10K on Sunday plus the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on Saturday morning, breaking the previous record from 1995, race officials said

  • The 2023 men's and women's marathon champions Paul Lonyangata and Cynthia Limo of Kenya are back to defend their titles

  • They will be pushed by a new field of elite runners that is improved from last year, according to David Monti, the Honolulu Marathon's race media consultant

  • The Kalakaua Merrie Mile has grown in popularity by the year and features a dozen participants in the 2024 Paris Olympics this year with a purse that increased from $10,000 to $18,000

“It’s quite the turnaround from not being able to hold the race in 2020 to here,” David Monti, the Honolulu Marathon’s race media consultant, told Spectrum News this week.

Runners from Japan account for about 10,000 of the entrants, up about 1,000 from last year but still well down from the peak of 19,000. The U.S. dollar’s strength against the yen was considered a driving factor.

“What’s happened is mainland interest has increased a lot,” Monti said of the fourth-largest marathon in the U.S.

The men’s and women’s defending champions from Kenya, Paul Lonyangata and Cynthia Limo, are back against a new set of elite runners.

While the marathon, starting 5 a.m. Sunday on Ala Moana Boulevard, through Downtown Honolulu all the way out to Hawaii Kai and back in to Kapiolani Park, remains by far the most popular attraction, the Merrie Mile through Waikiki at 7 a.m. Saturday has gained in popularity by the year since its introduction as an experiment in 2016.

After experiencing positive feedback and enthusiastic crowds for the Merrie Mile, especially since the resumption of competition post-COVID shutdowns in 2021, race organizers made a concerted effort to beef up the field this year.

A dozen competitors in the 2024 Paris Olympics were recruited to join about 2,500 citizen runners. The purse nearly doubled from last year, $18,000 from $10,000, and the winner receives $7,500, up from $4,000. There is a $5,000 bonus for breaking the U.S. mile record.

“It’s one of the few races in the United States where a record can be set for a mile contestant on the road, and I fully expect the American record for women, which is 4:28.0, will be broken,” Monti said.

The men’s and women’s marathon winners will win $25,000.

Lonyangata and Limo are both expected to be pushed. Lonyangata, 31, who won last year in 2:15:42, could get his biggest competition from two runners from Eritrea who have sought asylum in the U.S., Yemane Haileselassie and Amanuel Mesel. Haileselassie is coming off his personal best of 2:14:44 at the Boston Marathon in April.

Last year’s third-place Honolulu finisher from Kenya, Reuben Kerio is back, too.

Limo, who won in 2:33:01 with a 2:14 buffer to the women’s runner-up, will face two fellow Kenyans, Sandra Tuei and Judith Korir, both of whom have better personal bests (2:22.22 in Shanghai in 2023 and 2:18:20 in Eugene, Ore., in 2022, respectively).

“It’s considerably better than last year’s field, I would say,” Monti said of the elite field of eight men and five women.

Conditions are expected to be clear but with challenges like humidity and the arduous slopes of Diamond Head, personal bests are not expected.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.