Registrations for the JAL Honolulu Marathon events — the marathon, the Start to Park 10K and the Kalakaua Merrie Mile — are tracking ahead of last year’s peak and are expected to top 40,000 runners.
Last year, the Honolulu Marathon events drew 36,121 race entrants — the highest number of participants in the race’s 52-year-old history, according to Jim Barahal, Honolulu Marathon Association president and CEO. It was a 26% increase over the 26,637 race entrants that came in 2023, and Barahal said entrants for this year are tracking about 28% above 2024.
“There are over 30,000 entries already here in August. We are tracking to over 40,000 so this will be the peak,” he said. “We’re up 62% from two years ago across the overall market. We haven’t been anywhere near these numbers in a long time. It’s going to be a huge, mega event. It could go to 45,000. I think 40,000 is conservative.
In 1995, the Honolulu Marathon was the world’s largest marathon with 34,434 entrants. Barahal said 1995 is a tough comparison to this year since the marathon ran a special $2 entry rate that year, which also fell during the Japan boom to Hawaii.
“If you compared Hawaii tourism now to 1995, you wouldn’t look very good,” he said.
While the marathon is no longer the world’s largest, strong year-over-year gains last year and this year in the marathon and all of its branded events mean it’s climbing the ranks again, and it also has picked up Japan Airlines (JAL) as its title sponsor.
Barahal said greater interest in running and the lure of Hawaii as a destination have contributed to the growth in this year’s marathon events, which kick off with the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on Dec. 13. The Start to Park 10K is scheduled for Dec. 14 along with the JAL Honolulu Marathon.
“There’s no question there’s a resurgence of running — a running boom as it were particularly in the mainland U.S. and western Europe,” Barahal said. “But the main thing from Hawaii’s point of view is that the mainland U.S. number has just grown dramatically, and it’s a younger market, people in their 20s and 30s. It’s a social thing.”
The Honolulu Marathon, minus the 10K and mile runs, reached 18,408 finishers last year. That earned it a No. 5 ranking among the nation’s largest marathons listed in the 2024 Top Races Report published earlier this year by Running USA, a nonprofit serving as the trade organization for the running industry in North America.
The Top Races Report put the TCS New York City Marathon as the largest with 56,859 finishers, followed by Bank of America Chicago Marathon with 52,072 finishers, Boston with 25,570 finishers, and the Los Angeles Marathon at 20,509.
The Honolulu Marathon itself had 18,408 finishers in 2024, according to the report.
“If you counted all of the weekend events we’d be ranked higher,” Barahal said. “Historically that marathon-only thing has only counted marathon finishers, but as we get into economic impact and destination races, that’s a pretty hard core insider statistic that bears very little resemblance to what’s actually happening out in the running world now, especially as other events have grown and grown and grown.”
He added, “The Los Angeles Marathon actual finishers dropped this year so I have no doubt in marathon finishers alone we will go back to No. 4.”
Jay Holder, executive director of Running USA, said in a statement to mark the release of its 2024 Top Races Report, “As race organizers continue to invest in and innovate the participant experience, running events are becoming must-attend occasions. The numbers are clear: running is back. Participation levels are mirroring or surpassing those seen in 2019, and the momentum shows no signs of slowing.”
The 2024 Top Races Report lists the top 100 overall events, the top 100 races by distance, and the top 10 races in each state, and its findings showed:
• The number of finishers in the top 100 races across the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon categories grew by an average of 15% in the second half of 2024, compared to the second half of 2023.
• 10 races in 2024 boasted more than 25,000 finishers.
• The 25 largest races represent 15 different states, underscoring running’s nationwide appeal.
• The 5K remains the most popular entry point to the sport, but over one-third of the top 100 races were half marathons, reflecting a growing appetite for longer distances.
Holder said, “Whether your race or your favorite race made this year’s report or not, the remarkable growth and enthusiasm for running in 2024 are thanks to the entire community.
“From race organizers to participants, volunteers to fans, this collective effort is what keeps our sport thriving.”
Barahal said the marathon running events in Hawaii are experiencing the same resurgence, especially drawing younger runners, who are part of a post COVID-19 pandemic boom.
“There is unprecedented demand across all markets,” Barahal said.
While the marathon events are well supported by Hawaii entrants, he said as of the week of Aug. 18, offshore runners made up two-thirds of the entries, and many offshore entrants will bring friends and family with them on their trip to Oahu.
Barahal said as of the week of Aug. 18, the breakdown of entries for the events showed that 36.7% of the runners were coming from Hawaii, 26.9% were coming from Japan, 30.8% were coming from the U.S. mainland, and the other 5.6% were from other international destinations outside of Japan.
“About 20,000 of the 30,000 runners that have already signed up are coming from outside of Hawaii,” he said. “The numbers from the mainland U.S. are just astronomical — in some weeks, we are running 40% over last year’s entries. The Japan numbers are staying steady at about 27% over last year, but there are some capacity problems as far as having enough air seats and hotel rooms to accommodate them.”
Hawai‘i Hotel Alliance President Jerry Gibson said the numbers for the marathon events are an encouraging sign, and will help bolster Hawaii tourism’s year-end finish.
“JAL coming on as a title sponsor certainly ought to help push this event over the top, and I’m sure the wholesalers will be on it, too,” Gibson said. “There’s still room for growth in the hotels, and if that segment picks up it will be terrific. We need some good news, and we need to start our marketing programs.”
The obvious tourism draw is a reason that the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority chose to provide another $200,000 to support the marathon events this year on top of the $250,000 that it gave last year.
James Kunane Tokioka, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said sports tourism is a growing priority for the HTA. He said that the new HTA advisory board is setting up a new Sports Tourism Committee to reflect Gov. Josh Green’s focus on growing sports tourism.
“We’ve been working on the Rams and the Clippers, but one of the biggest events that people forget about is the Honolulu Marathon. It’s the single-biggest event,” Tokioka said.” We have to continue to support them. There’s no question how many visitors that they bring for that event — runners and their families.”
Source: The Garden Island