I have participated in the Maui Marathon and Half Marathon on and off since 2002, so I was interested to see how the race with go with it's new race directors this year. I was originally signed up for the full marathon, but wound up having to switch to the half marathon when a series of injuries held me back from completing the necessary marathon training.

The packet pickup and expo went relatively smoothly, I was able to park at the nearby Whaler's Village shopping center which is only a short walk away from the expo located at the Westin Resort. The vendors were very friendly and easy going, and there were a number of running gear options at reasonable prices, I purchased a shirt, a visor and some gels for the race.

Picking up the race packet was easy, there were no lines midday on Saturday, and I had no issues transferring my entry from the full marathon to the half marathon. There was a central list of entries outside the packet area, so you could quickly find your bib number. In the expo area, there was a video showing the marathon course mile by mile with drone footage to give an idea of the course. Unfortunately there was limited information on the half marathon, and new 10K, and 5K course. It would have been helpful to have a poster or map in the packet. I was familiar with the half marathon, but I could see someone competing for the first time might need more information. I was happy that the expo validated my parking so it was free, otherwise the Whaler's Village charges $3 per half hour.

I got to the half marathon start at about 5:15am, to allow for time to warmup. The race organizers recommended parking at the Lahaina civic center and taking a shuttle to the start, but I wanted easy access to my car so I could change after the race so I ended up parking at Whaler's Village. When I got to the start, I found out that the race would be starting about 15-20 minutes late because the shuttles were running late bringing runners to the start area. This change to the start time would make for a hotter race, which was not ideal, especially for the slower runners.

The start area of the half marathon was not excessively crowded, so it was easy to get to the front line with the faster runners. A local celebrity sung the national anthem and Hawai'i Pono'i, and then the race director gave a brief talk and countdown for the start.

I paced the half marathon with my brother, who was hoping to come in under 1:50. The aid stations were great, the volunteers were helpful in letting us know if they were handing out water or gatorade in the cups. Because the half marathon course is out and back on the final miles of the marathon course, there were plenty of aid stations available. They even had iced sponges available. Much of the race is on Front Street in Lahaina, which was entirely closed from traffic which made running easy and we could focus on the ocean scenery and historic town.

At the turnaround point, the wind kicked up to 30-40 mph blowing dust into our eyes and making some of the running through a headwind. There was a wide lane for the returning half marathoners, so we did not have to navigate the runners still heading toward the turnaround. The full marathoners started to pass us at this stage, and although we tried to move to the left, I could see that they needed to go around some of the half runners in this area.

From mile 10-13, the sun came out and the temperature started to rise. I encouraged my brother to hold his pace and we ended up finishing in about 1:53.

At the finish line, the announcers would read each finishers name as they came in, and the volunteers congratulated the runners with the finisher medal. Refreshments included water, fruit, bagels and a free Shaka Pop popsicle, which was awesome on a hot day. There were plenty of port-o-potties, and a medical tent a short distance from the finish to help with any issues. The local running club, VIRR, and other tour companies had hospitality tents along the finish chute so everyone could continue cheering the runners as they come in. The traffic to leave the finish area was congested, but I appreciated that the race blocked off the lanes to make the finish safe for runners.