| Run | Marathon |
| Name | Kona |
| City | Kailua-Kona |
| State | Big Island ~ Hawaii |
| Country | U.S.A |
| Registration | Online but check their FB for Discount entries |
| Transportation | Christina recommended us to check out Discount Hawaii Car Rentals. They had better deals than most rental sites so we made a booking with Airport pick up with Avis. Deal was ok but then we received some kind of new price offers via a newsletter, did more searches and I secured a second offer with Thrifty this time still thru Discount Hawaii Car Rentals web site, I then called them to cancel the initial one. Not a Problem and at no cost ! Car was there as promised, price exactly as shown on my Email confirmation … The only sour note was that the “rigid” employee tried to charge us some 15 % extra for picking up the car 35 mn earlier ! |
| Lodging | Christina Piccuta ” chrispiccuta@yahoo.com ” |
| Comments |
• Online Registration :
When Miyuki found out that we could be staying in Hawaii for as long as a month using Hawaiian airlines Stop Over we searched for a marathon. We found Kona Marathon and decided to register. I browsed their FB page and found a US$ 22.5 off coupon deal per registration out of US$ 90 . I gave it a try .. It worked just fine! • Lodging : We stayed at Christina , our AirBnB host You should contact her directly at ” chrispiccuta@yahoo.com ” Husband being a marathon runner as well he took part at the race Christina did the 10 km with her sister . • Expo : Pretty much well organised expo, easy to walk around but no much freebies ! • Race day : We had an early call ; start being at 5;30 am Once there we heard that the free shuttles from Sheraton to starting line did not come so they had to find out a plan B resulting a Start delay of 15 mn. Not always the best when you know that Temperature can rise quite dramatically by race end . • Route : The first few miles are pleasant .. running by the ocean and local shops and restaurants but then comes the surprise a couple of miles through Shopping mall parking lot (twice); damned ! then the highway . Most of the race is run there . Nothing we can do about Honolulu marathon is the same any way. A long lone run but with plenty of aid stations providing Water, Coke , Ice and Ultima which was to sweet and out of flavor to my taste at least ! GU could be found as well … Not very scenic route but lot of race crew support , couple of locals cheering you up but no music band or Hawaiian dances ! • Finish line : That is what I will call the most stressful last mile before finishing line . Going through Sheraton kind of Kitchen back doors … having to go up and down a couple of stairs at Km 42 is clearly something inappropriate. Passed the Finishing arch, plenty of smiling volunteers are there to hang around your neck a Beautiful and heavy Medal . Free grinds are provided but heard that Coke was not available any more because we were too slow ! .. Hugh .. Bad point again ! the 4th one; a bit too much in one day ! Finisher T shirt available but same story here not in Size ! Sick ! All least Kona brewery had an all you can drink beer stand. The one and only free yellow school bus will take you back to starting line parking lot but the last one runs at noon giving you not enough time to relax , chill down and enjoy the rest of the morning. Note : 3 out of 5 . |
