I finished my 50 States Marathon quest at the Maui Oceanfront Marathon and what a way to finish! Les makes this race fun from start to finish, starting from the day you register. Communication is frequent and quite humorous much of the time. Emails also come full of great info for anyone with a few days to spend on Maui, which is very helpful given the number of tours and things to do.

Packet pickup takes place in two locations over two days so it’s pretty convenient regardless of where you’re staying. We rented a VRBO house in Lahaina which was walking distance to everything on Front St/waterfront, including packet pickup.

There are shuttles Race morning but my husband drove my friend and me to the start. There’s also an early start option (the regular start is 5am to avoid the heat as much as possible). Before each wave there’s a Hawaiian blessing which is very cool. Fifty staters finishing their journeys all get bib #50 and line up across the front row for the start which is a nice touch. All total there’s probably around 400ish runners I think (wild guess).

The course itself is very pretty. We had a detour this year that ran along the beach on the hard packed sand for a couple of hundred yards; the RD planned ahead and advised runners to put baggies on their shoes. They had volunteers assisting at the beginning and end of this portion. It ended up being a nice detour by the water with tiki torches in the darkness.

There are some rolling hills in the middle section but then the course flattens out to the end in Lahaina. There is some shade along the way (after the sun comes up of course) but not a ton. Lots of aid stations though. We saw whales breaching along the way which was spectacular. I’d say the only downside to the race is the traffic along the highway. Runners use the shoulder and it’s a main thoroughfare with nonstop traffic coming toward you. I don’t know that anything could be done about this, I’m sure the city wouldn’t close that main road down for anything. In any other race it would have been a major negative. In Maui it was a minor bummer because of the scenery on the left!

MOM gives fifty state finishers a special medal in addition to the marathon medal which is a very nice touch.

All in all I really liked this race. I’m normally a 3:40-3:50 runner but ran with my friend at his pace, so we were out for a lot longer. I was worried about the heat initially but honestly the breeze made a huge difference and I never felt like it was that bad; I’ve certainly run in worse heat. I’d definitely recommend this race for fifty staters or anyone looking for a great race in Hawaii. Much better location than Oahu in my opinion. Make sure you do some snorkeling with Maui Snorkel Charters, do some whale watching, and take in the beautiful luau at Old Lahaina Luau grounds on Front St. Sunrise on Haleakalā is also amazing! Aloha!