On the day before the Honolulu Marathon the Kalakaua Merrie Mile is held … the race is named after King Kalakaua, who was known as the Merrie Monarch.
A fun event for family and friends of runners in the marathon but many marathoners do run it as an easy warm up.
Shortly after 6am I walked from the hotel to the race start … approximately a mile.
I stood in my start group for about 30 minutes … waves started every 2 minutes … my wave started at 7:04 … the temperature was around 75F (23-24C).
I was right at the front of my wave and started somewhat fast … forced myself to slow a bit by remembering that the mile wasn’t my main race … was around 12:05 at the turn around … with around .4 of a mile to go I couldn’t resist trying to pick up the pace … finished in 11:40 … much faster then I expected to go but felt good … breathing definitely was harder near the end. Overall, a very good fun experience on a warm morning …
After the race I walked back to my hotel and rested the balance of the day.
Rick Horne 