Maui Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Peter K.
Los Angeles, CA

  (11-05-2009)

"OK...I can't believe NO ONE has come forward to say this:
THIS COURSE IS SEVERELY MIS-REPRESENTED.
The course itself is BEAUTIFUL...However, the ELEVATION NUMBERS on the race sheets that were handed out and the INFO on the website were incorrect and/or mis-represented. The first 13 miles are very hilly with gains of up to 245ft above sea level. The race info said that after mile 13 the course was virtually FLAT. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I cross-referenced my GPS INFO with the race info sheet...and all was accurate until AFTER mile 13...I counted over 10 spots after mile 13 that gained up to over 100 ft! big difference!! THAT IS DOUBLE THE GAIN THAT WAS REPRESENTED! This destroyed my time...as I would have done MORE hill training knowing that the rest of the course after 13mi was pretty much a CONSTANT incline! I was VERY DISAPPOINTED by this. This race has been happening for 39 years..and they can only get about 1000 people to run it? It is BRUTALLY hot, humid and the trade winds were blowing you back half the time....so CHALLENGING? ABSA-FRICKIN'-LUTELY....beautiful...absolutely!...would I do it again....HELL NO! ALSO, I have to say it...I have NEVER tasted more watered down GATORADE in my life. Come on guys! IT WAS 88 DEGREES OUTSIDE...and there were only 1000 of us!!! "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

shelly c.
redwood city, CA

  (10-01-2009)

"ABSOLUTELY the best place to have your worst marathon ever...as in performance! Course is the road from Kahului to Kaanapali...can't get much better then that! Starts out with a fire dance ceremony...in the pitch dark at 5:30 AM...hot non the less! NO chip which was weird to me and it's a BQ course, weird to me even more. The race was great all the way til about mile 10 and then the sun and the humidity collided...holy crap it was a hot humid race. The rolling hills on hwy 30 were fun...running thru Lahaina was awesome. The aid stations were frequent because they needed to be. I have never fueled so much on a race or walked so much..the humidity killed me. The course and volunteers were the best..and I would do it again...with ZERO race expectations.."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009