It was touch-and-go leading up to race day, but Lester veered north and we had beautiful weather for the 8th Annual Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon. The uncertainty and challenges of the past week only served to reinforce my respect and amazement for the people who come to run and support this event. With a record number of entrants ranging from age 8 to 86 years old, and hailing from 14 countries, this year’s event was made truly special by everyone’s against-the-odds perseverance. The continued involvement of charities including City of Hope, Project Purple, and Cheetah Running Group highlights the commitment and compassion of all involved.
I want to extend a big congratulations to the top runners who braved this year’s heat. We were excited to have such strong representation from our sister city, Iwaki City. This year’s Full Marathon champion not only won the Iwaki City Sunshine Marathon in Japan, but hails from Iwaki City as well. Shou Sakuma finished in 2:30:51, one of the fastest times ever on the course. The top female, Yuko Nakai, lives in Honolulu but is originally from Japan as well. She came in at an equally remarkable 3:16:03 and will travel to Iwaki City in February to compete in the marathon and represent The Kauai Marathon. For the Half Marathon, Tyler McCandless (Boulder, CO) cruised to a third straight victory on the men’s side, breaking his own course record, while Carrie Zografos (Portland, OR) won the female category.
Other festivities throughout the race week included the Keiki Run, sponsored by Wilcox Health. Watching 148 children chase a giant chicken around the Hyatt’s oceanfront lawn is always an enjoyable spectacle eliciting both laughter and some of the weekend’s fiercest competition. Wilcox Health also sponsored the Sports and Fitness Expo, another highlight of the week offering participants the latest in gear and nutrition as well as access to the running community and personalities.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank our extraordinary sponsors, volunteers, paid staff, friends and family, timing crew, on-course entertainment, Kauai Police Department, medical team, expo vendors, local spectators, and YOU, the participants who inspire us all. Everyone involved exemplifies the aloha spirit of community and generosity to make this a truly special event.
We hope that you and your friends and family will join us next year for the 9th annual Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon on September 3th, 2017!
If you want to see a sneak peak of the race course, please check out our epic drone footage!
Aloha,
Jeff Sacchini, The Kauai Marathon and Half Marathon Race Founder
Aloha Jeff and Robin!
Thanks for putting on such an epic race. This was my third year, and it keeps getting better (or maybe it was better because I only did the half…). The staff and volunteers are amazing.
Mahalo,
Melissa
Congrats Melissa on another year!
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for doing the Marathon. Would you please consider dividing the over 70’s and over 80’s age groups for the Half Marathon as follows:70-74, 75-79 and 80-84, 85-89? Why? Makes good press, is in line with the bigger Marathons such as Honolulu, and I and the others in these age groups would appreciate it
Mathea, Age 86
Aloha Mathea, we just discussed that today in our meeting and we are going to break up the age groups into 70-74, 75-79, 80-84 and 85-90. Congrats on another fabulous race!
Are you going to get the company who made the medallions to re make them for you Free because to me the date is very important especially for us first timers..it was like a birthday…special to finish this accomplishment.
Hi Jeff, what an amazing race you put together. We have been doing the half marathon every 2 years sinc year number 2. The event is one of the most well run races we have ever participated in. I would really like to make a suggestion that you might add several more porta potties during the first half of the race. We stood in line for over 10 minutes waiting to use the bathroom at mile 4. There were only 2 porta potties at that site and one of them was out of toilet paper. Ugh!
Again thank you for all you do! Keep up the amazing job!
How do I get my third place reward in the age group half marathon. I had to leave the island right after the finish?gregorio maldini