This was my third year in a row running at this event. It's one of my favorites because I love that this race is big enough to actually have an expo and tons of sponsors to make the race very exciting! This event is the longest running marathon series west of the Mississippi, so it's pretty big for Maui standards.

Expo: communication about the expo was very limited. I received an email several weeks ago with the time and location, and then nothing until the night before with only our bib number. I headed to the Westin Maui Resort & Spa where the expo was held and was very aggravated to find out that the resort would not allow me to park on their property even though they were hosting the expo. I was directed to park at the neighboring shopping mall garage, where if you aren't an employee like I am you would have to pay $3.00/half hour to park there. Despite this annoyance the expo itself was wonderful! The bib check in was very organized and smooth. I got a draw-string sack with tons of swag from local restaurants and businesses, and was even more impressed with the finisher's t-shirt. It was a light material tech shirt with the Maui Marathon logo in a light green. Lots of good vendors and the Maui Marathon gear that had for sale had great variety.

Race Morning: I arrived at the event a tad too early as I was expecting parking to be crazy, which is was about 20 minutes after I arrived. The options were either to park in the shopping mall garage (lucky me for the cheap parking as an employee) or to park at the Lahaina Civic Center and take one of the provided shuttles over that ran every ten minutes.

There were tons of port-a-potties so the lines went quickly. The announcers did a great job of explaining the course in English and Japanese - the main sponsor is Japan Travel Bureau - so lots of Japanese flew over just for this race. There weren't any corals which might have helped with the almost 1000 runners but it made the first mile fun to zig zag around everyone.

The race started with the gun and we were off down Kaanapali Parkway. The road was shut down for us which was nice, then at the end of the parkway were headed south down Honoapiilani Highway. We stayed on the highway for about 2.5 miles then took a right down Front Street (to point out the course was almost all along the coast). Again all of Front Street was shut down for us which was nice - this is one of the busiest roads in Lahaina. It was actually pretty cool to run by all the buildings and restaurants without any other people around. The view was pretty unique for someone who is used to seeing tons of people shopping and walking. At the far south end of Front Street we jumped back on the highway for another mile and a half until we reached Launiupoko Beach Park for the halfway point and turn around. It was a very noticeable turn around so no one would be able to miss it. Then we returned to Kaanapali along the same route. Finishing just before sunrise was great because it hadn't had the chance to get too hot yet.

Aid Stations: all stations were stocked with water and powerade, then what was really cool was each stations was sponsored by a different business or organization. So some stations had fresh fruit for us, others had cups of pretzels or cookies. It was a pleasant surprise.

Post race: there was a long covered tent right after the finish line with tons of water, fresh fruit, bagels, and Jamba Juice frozen shakes.

Overall a great event and really fun and flat race, which is good as it is the only race on the island that is a Boston Qualifying race. I do want mention that the weather was a beautiful clear day, which wasn't good for the full marathon runners. That meant they were in full sun for the last 6 miles, that's why I prefer the half since you finish before the sun rises. Hope to see you next September to run with me!