- Weather
- 77°Ftypical startModelled estimate
- Field size
- ~800 runners
- Course
- Rolling
- Elevation
- 400 ft gain
Coastal ocean run; whale watching
PR6Weather4Experience7
Early December · West Coast · Out-and-Back
Honolulu Marathon
Honolulu, HI · Sunday, December 13, 2026
Has no official time cutoff, one of the few major US marathons where that's true, which draws an unusually wide range of finish times and makes it genuinely welcoming to first-time finishers. It also draws one of the largest international fields of any US race, with a longstanding and heavy Japanese participant base built up over decades.
No cut-off time; scenic coastal views
- Bucket List
- Scenic
- Big Race Experience
Opens the race organizer's website
Typical start
73°
Cooler than 1% of U.S. marathons
Modeled historical conditions
Elevation gain
500ft
Flatter than 30% of races
Estimated total climb
Field size
18K
Larger than 97% of races
Estimated field
PR potential
6.5/10
Ahead of 18% of races
Almanac model
Percentiles compare this race against all 224 U.S. marathons in the Almanac.
Course profile
500 ft gain
Rolling course, out-and-back.
0510152026.2
Race-day weather
Modeled from location, month and coastal proximity, not verified race history.
6 AM
65°
Start
73°
Midday
84°
ExcellentGoodWarmHeat risk
Typical start sits at 73°F, real heat risk.
Typical dew point 61°F, 16% chance of precipitation, wind around 7 mph. All modeled.
The bottom line
A balanced race that suits most goals without specialising in any.
Honolulu Marathon is a strong choice for a first marathon, and the course rolls gently without any sustained climbing. The tradeoff is that nothing about it is extreme in either direction.
Why runners choose this race
A out-and-back course around Honolulu, HI, with steady rollers that reward even pacing.
The case for it
- Runners who care about scenery
- Big-race atmosphere
The tradeoffs
- No notable warnings in the data.
Course and logistics
- Course type
- Out-and-Back
- Surface
- Road
- Profile
- Rolling
- Total gain
- 500 ft(estimated)
- Field size
- ~15,000-20,000 runners(estimated)
- Crowd support
- Heavy crowd support
- Entry
- Data coming soon
- Start / finish
- Start and finish in the same area
Race details
- Typical timing
- Early December
- Next confirmed date
- Sunday, December 13, 2026
- Region
- West Coast
- Editorial tier
- Featured
- Data last reviewed
- 2026-08-26
- Bucket List
- Scenic
- Big Race Experience
- Out-and-back
- Destination race
Similar races
Races with a comparable profile.
- Weather
- 67°Ftypical startModelled estimate
- Field size
- ~400 runners
- Course
- Rolling
- Elevation
- 600 ft gain · 0 ft net
Event listed as: Marathon
PR6Weather6Experience6
- Weather
- 26°Ftypical startModelled estimate
- Field size
- ~1,000 runners
- Course
- Rolling
- Elevation
- 700 ft gain
Solstice weekend; dirt trails & paved greenways
PR7Weather7Experience7