I haven’t discussed it much at all but one of the big events of the year for me is the Great Aloha Run. It’s one of the largest athletic events of the year in Hawai’i, and while it’s not up there in prestige or challenge with the Honolulu Marathon, it’s a great time for many (and my employer, Kaiser Permanente, is the headline sponsor of the event this year).

What is the Great Aloha Run? It’s a family oriented run/walk event that happens in Honolulu every President’s Day, so this year it’s on February 15, 2010. It starts in front of Aloha Tower and ends at Aloha Stadium. It’s 8.15 miles and while billed as a race, the vast majority of the entrants are recreational and fitness athletes. It’s going into its 26th year.

Here’s a rough map of the course, provided by the Honolulu Advertiser:

Since it’s going on roads that are usually closed for running (or at least very difficult to run on), it’s tough for me to get a better map with Google Maps.

This will be the third time I do the Great Aloha Run. My times have been in the 12 minute to 13 minute per mile range. I’m hopeful that with my recent training I’ll be able to do this run more comfortably and faster.

For what it’s worth, time to train for this is ticking away! But if you haven’t started yet, you still have time–start now! The yearly GAR In Training workshop has been going on since late December, but if you follow the training program on page two of The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer, you can hit the eight mile long run mark in four weeks (assuming you can start with a four mile long run). If you can’t do the four mile long right now, you still have a couple more weeks to get there.

I plan on seeing you all there.
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1. Carnival Stories from the Land, Sea, and Sky Says:
   January 4th, 2010 at 2:21 pm

   […] Suenaga helps us with that when he talks all about the Great Aloha Run 2010 posted at his blog, The Athletic Diabetic.  He’ll get no arguments from me!  I can’t […]