Every second Sunday in December, somewhere around 4:30 in the morning, the whole Ala Moana end of Honolulu is wide awake in running shoes. Fireworks go off over the start line at 5:00 a.m. sharp. Then roughly 35,000 people take off down Ala Moana Boulevard toward Diamond Head in the dark.
That is the Honolulu Marathon, and for 2026 it lands on Sunday, December 13.
We have cheered it from the Kalākaua Avenue curb, driven around its closures more times than we can count, and eaten the finish-line malasadas without earning them. This is the full plan: what entry costs, how the course runs, where to stand, and which roads to avoid that morning.
Related: Getting Around Oʻahu, Where to Stay on Oʻahu, Oʻahu Winter Break with Kids
Quick reference links: official race page, entry fees and registration, official FAQ, course description, and Honolulu City Lights.
Race Weekend 2026 at a Glance
The marathon is always the second Sunday in December. For 2026 that is Sunday, December 13, with a 5:00 a.m. start on Ala Moana Boulevard and a finish at Kapiʻolani Park near the bandstand.
The start line closes at 5:30 a.m., so this is one morning where the snooze button is your enemy.
The Start to Park 10K goes off at the same time and place and covers the first 6.2 miles (10 km) of the course. The day before, Saturday, December 12, the Kalākaua Merrie Mile starts at 7:00 a.m. on Monsarrat Avenue and finishes at Queens Beach.
The expo and packet pickup run Thursday, December 10 through Saturday, December 12 at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. Finisher Monday is December 14 on the fourth floor of the same building. We cover all of that below.
The big thing that makes this race different: there is no time limit and no qualifying standard. The finish line stays open until the last person crosses. That is why you will see walkers strolling in with the sun high overhead and a shave ice in hand.
What It Costs to Enter
Let’s talk money first, because the price climbs every few weeks and the jump at the end is steep. Entry fees are set in tiers by registration date. As of this writing we are in the October 13 to December 3 window.
In that window, the full marathon runs $255 for Hawaiʻi residents and for U.S. mainland and Canadian residents, and $320 for international runners. Active duty U.S. military and students get 10 percent off those prices. The Start to Park 10K is $130. The Kalākaua Merrie Mile is $70.
Miss December 3 and you can still enter at the expo, but the marathon jumps to $460, or $360 for military and students. The 10K goes to $160 and the Merrie Mile to $80. Do not do that to yourself! Register online before the deadline and spend the difference on dinner in Waikīkī.
Two more things worth knowing while your wallet is open. Groups of five or more get 10 percent off, and groups of ten or more get 15 percent off. Everyone in the group needs to fill in their details before November 1, 2026.
Entries are not refundable or deferrable unless you bought the booking protection at checkout. If your plans are shaky, that add-on is worth a look.
Life happens, and sometimes the marathon you signed up for in June is not the marathon your knees want in December. Before November 1, you can transfer your entry to a friend or family member through the official event transfers page.
There is also an option to switch to the virtual event and finish the distance at home within a month of race day.
The Expo and Packet Pickup
Every runner picks up their own packet at the Honolulu Marathon Expo inside the Hawaiʻi Convention Center, 1801 Kalākaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815. Packets are never mailed, and nobody can grab yours for you. There is no race-morning pickup either. Build this stop into your trip.
Expo hours are Thursday, December 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Friday, December 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Saturday, December 12 runs 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Merrie Mile runners need to grab their bibs by 6:55 p.m. on Friday, since that race goes off Saturday morning. Bring the confirmation card that gets emailed during race week.
Do not drive to the expo. The convention center’s own garage closed in January 2026 for a two-year renovation, and the building sits right where Waikīkī traffic funnels into town.
From most Waikīkī hotels it is a flat 15 to 25 minute walk along Kalākaua. You can also take TheBus or grab a Biki bike share, since there is a Biki stop right out front.
Go on Thursday if you can. Saturday afternoon is the crowd, the lines, and every last-minute shopper in Honolulu hunting for anti-chafe stick. Thursday morning is calm enough to wander the vendor booths, try the official gels, and still make the beach by lunch.
The Course, Mile by Mile
The route is 26.2 miles (42.2 km) and mostly flat, with Diamond Head as the only real hill, and you climb it twice. The highest point on the course is just 124 feet (38 m) above sea level near mile 9.
If you trained on hills, you are overqualified, and we mean that as a compliment.
You start on Ala Moana Boulevard beside Ala Moana Beach Park and run toward downtown along the harbor past Aloha Tower. Then you swing through Chinatown and onto South King Street.
That stretch takes you past ʻIolani Palace, the King Kamehameha statue, Kawaiahaʻo Church, and Honolulu Hale. The Honolulu City Lights displays will still be glowing on the Hale lawn at that hour, which is a strange and wonderful thing to run past.
Around mile 4 (6.4 km) you come back along Kapiʻolani Boulevard and Piʻikoi Street, pass Ala Moana Center, and cross the Ala Wai Canal bridge into Waikīkī.
Mile 5 (8 km) runs you past the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Fort DeRussy, and the Duke Kahanamoku statue on Kalākaua Avenue. This is where the crowd noise first hits you.
Miles 6 through 9 (9.7 to 14.5 km) fork left onto Monsarrat Avenue past the Honolulu Zoo and the Waikīkī Shell. You loop Kapiʻolani Park on Paki Avenue, then take the first climb up Diamond Head Road.
The sun usually comes up right about here, over the water. It is the best sunrise you will ever be too busy to photograph.
At mile 10 (16 km) you turn onto Kīlauea Avenue through Kahala and merge onto Kalanianaʻole Highway. That gives you about four miles (6.4 km) of coast through Waiʻalae Iki, ʻĀina Haina, and Niu Valley.
This is the quiet stretch. The side roads climb steeply into the ridges on your left, and the ocean sits flat and blue on your right.
Around mile 16 (25.7 km) you turn into Hawaiʻi Kai and loop the inland marina, with Koko Head staring at you the whole way. You come back out at Maunalua Bay Beach Park and retrace Kalanianaʻole past Kawaikui and Wailupe beach parks. By then the late-morning trade winds finally start to help.
Mile 22 (35.4 km) turns onto Kealaolu Avenue beside Waiʻalae Country Club, then Kahala Avenue. At mile 24 (38.6 km) Kahala Avenue merges into Diamond Head Road for the second climb around the crater.
Past the Cliffs surf break and the lighthouse, you fork onto Kalākaua, run along Sans Souci and the Waikīkī Aquarium, and finish near the Kapiʻolani Park Bandstand.
Diamond Head itself stands 760 feet (232 m) tall, and the second time around it looks twice that. Everybody slows there. Shorten the stride, look at the ocean, and remember the park is two miles (3.2 km) away and all downhill from the top.
Race Morning Logistics
Set two alarms. Most Waikīkī hotels are a 20 to 40 minute walk from the start on Ala Moana Boulevard. The roads around the start begin closing at 12:30 a.m., so a taxi or rideshare will only get you so close.
Walking with the river of headlamps and reflective vests is part of the experience anyway.
Expect the start to feel like the mid-60s Fahrenheit (around 18 C) and plan for the low 80s (around 28 C) by 10:00 a.m. with real humidity. Mainland runners, this is the part that bites.
A hat, sunscreen you put on in the hotel room, and a slower first half than your ego wants will save your race.
There are 16 aid stations serving water and sports drink, each with medical staff. The official fueling partner hands out PF 30 gels at roughly miles 9, 12, 15, and 20 (14.5, 19.3, 24.1, and 32.2 km). You are also welcome to carry your own food and water.
Headphones are allowed, walkers are welcome, and anyone over the age of seven can enter.
A few things to leave at the hotel: strollers (allowed only in the 10K, and only from the back of the pack), walking poles, skates, and the dog.
The course also closes to anyone without a bib. Your spouse cannot jog the last mile beside you, no matter how good the photo would be.
Where to Watch
Spectating this race is a sport of its own, because the course passes some spots twice and you can walk between several of them. Live tracking by bib number goes up during race week, so you can time your coffee runs instead of guessing.
The start on Ala Moana Boulevard is worth the early wake-up once for the fireworks alone. Get there by 4:30 a.m., stand on the makai side near Ala Moana Beach Park, and watch 35,000 headlamps surge past in the dark. Then walk to Waikīkī for breakfast while they loop downtown.
Kalākaua Avenue in Waikīkī, between Lewers Street and the Duke statue, is the loudest stretch on the course and sits right outside most hotels. Runners come through around mile 5 (8 km).
The first ones hit it before 5:30 a.m. with the elites flying.
Kapiʻolani Park is the easy all-day choice. You see runners pass on Monsarrat and Paki Avenues around miles 6 and 7 (9.7 to 11.3 km). Then you walk across the grass to the finish on Kalākaua and wait for your person to come in.
Bring a beach mat, a cooler, and something to shade the keiki, because the lawn gets no mercy from the sun after 9:00 a.m.
Diamond Head Road is for the dramatic photo. Runners climb it around mile 8 and again at mile 24 with the ocean behind them, and the lookouts give you a long view down the hill. Walk up from the park, since police hold the road closed to cars until the runners clear.
If you are staying in Hawaiʻi Kai or Kahala, pull up a lawn chair on Kalanianaʻole. The sun is up, the crowds are thinner, and runners between miles 12 and 21 will take every cowbell you have. Just know that you are on the wrong side of every closure until late morning.
Road Closures: What to Expect
The official traffic advisory comes out in late November, so what follows is the 2025 pattern, which has looked much the same for years. Check the official traffic advisory page the week of the race before you plan a drive.
Traffic control runs from about 12:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on race Sunday, and tow-away zones along the course are in effect from midnight to 5:00 p.m.
Rental car parked on Monsarrat Avenue Saturday night? Move it. We have watched the tow trucks work that street, and they are efficient.
Ala Moana Boulevard between Atkinson Drive and Ward Avenue is detoured from 12:30 a.m. and reopens around 8:00 a.m. Downtown closures on King Street and Kapiʻolani Boulevard start at 3:30 a.m.
In Waikīkī, Kalākaua traffic gets pushed onto Kūhiō Avenue from 3:30 a.m. The mauka side of Kalākaua from Monsarrat to Poni Moi stays closed until the race ends.
The east side is the real headache. Kalanianaʻole Highway runs with the makai lanes closed and the mauka lanes contraflowed from 3:30 a.m. until the last runners clear. The eastbound lanes reopen around 8:30 a.m.
Kīlauea Avenue, Kahala Avenue, and Kealaolu Avenue are controlled by HPD until the runner volume thins, usually by late morning. The H1 eastbound ends early that morning too, with traffic forced off at the Waiʻalae Avenue exit from 3:30 a.m.
Got a flight, a Hanauma Bay reservation, or a Koko Head sunrise plan that Sunday? Do not drive east of Diamond Head before 11:00 a.m. Catch the bus, or just stay and cheer.
TheBus cancels and detours several routes on race day. Call 808-848-5555 or check thebus.org that week. The marathon’s own race-day traffic line is 808-221-9534.
The Merrie Mile and the 10K for Families
The Kalākaua Merrie Mile on Saturday morning is the one we point visiting families to. It is a single mile (1.6 km) out and back on Kalākaua Avenue, starting on Monsarrat at 7:00 a.m. and finishing at Queens Beach. Waves go off by predicted time, and there is a beach festival at the end.
It is open to all ages. Keiki need a registered parent or guardian running with them the whole way, and strollers are allowed from the back of the pack.
Everyone gets a bib, a shirt, a finisher medal, and post-race treats. A five-year-old finishes with the same medal as the elites who race it for real.
The Start to Park 10K is the gentler version of the marathon itself. Same fireworks, same 5:00 a.m. start, same first 6.2 miles (10 km) through downtown and Waikīkī, and you are pau at Kapiʻolani Park before the sun gets mean.
It is non-competitive, strollers are fine from the back, and the shirt comes with your packet.
After the Finish Line
Cross the line, keep walking, and follow the crowd to the Finisher T-shirt Tent in Kapiʻolani Park. The marathon shirt and medal are only for finishers and are only handed out there on race day, so do not wander off to the beach first.
Then go find the malasadas. They are fried fresh, and they are the best thing you will eat all week.
The awards ceremony is at 1:00 p.m. at the bandstand.
Finisher certificates can be picked up on Finisher Monday, December 14, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the fourth floor of the convention center. You can get them laminated there and buy official merchandise, or download yours from the results page and skip the trip.
Walk, do not drive, back to your hotel. Kalākaua is still full of runners and the Waikīkī side streets are a maze of cones until early afternoon. The ocean at Kaimana Beach is a five-minute shuffle from the finish and does more for sore legs than any ice bath.
When you are ready for real food, our picks for breakfast and brunch on Oʻahu are all within reach. The malasada rankings will settle any argument your group starts about Leonard’s.
Where to Stay and When to Book
Waikīkī is the answer for most runners, because you can walk to the expo, the start, and the finish without ever touching a rental car on closure morning. The hotels nearest Kapiʻolani Park, around Kapahulu and the zoo end of Kalākaua, put you closest to the finish and the Merrie Mile.
Book early. The second week of December is when thousands of runners flying in from Japan, the mainland holiday crowd, and everyone else with a bib all want the same rooms. Prices climb through November.
Our full where to stay on Oʻahu guide breaks down the neighborhoods if you would rather be in Kahala or Ko Olina and drive in.
Give yourself a few days on either side. Arrive by Thursday so you can hit the expo early and shake off the jet lag. Stay through Tuesday if you can.
Honolulu City Lights opens December 5 and runs through the month. The Diamond Head hike is a good shakeout on Friday, and your legs will thank you for a beach day before the flight home.
Runners who fall in love with the course come back for the Hapalua Half Marathon in April, which runs a similar Waikīkī and Diamond Head route. And if December does not fit, the Great Aloha Run in February is the other big local race worth a trip.
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