It’s a massive endeavor

The fireworks that will signal the 5 a.m. start of Sunday’s Honolulu Marathon also will signal that Rick Taniguchi’s personal marathon of a day has at least another 12 hours to go.

The deputy race director for the 40th-annual event has his own race-day route. It’s one that actually will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and continue overnight until that last finisher crosses the Kapiolani Park finish line, perhaps as late as Sunday evening.

During the hours in between, there will be some time for sleep — not much — and lots of time spent on ensuring the race experience for some 30,000 runners is a smooth and enjoyable one.

“I’ve become somewhat of an expert on weather, unintentionally,” said Taniguchi, whose involvement with the 26.2-mile race started in 1979. “We try to provide for the various contingencies such as higher-than-normal humidity. That means more fluids and ice at the aid stations.

“We have nearly 20 aid stations and over 10,000 volunteers, a slew of them at the finish line. It’s a massive endeavor.”

It’s one that has been in the works since the day after the 39th marathon last December.

The continuing road work on Ala Moana and Kapiolani boulevards has required constant monitoring and “we’ve had very good support from both the city and state governments in terms of having the course ready,” said Taniguchi, a self-described wannabe athlete who has never run a marathon.

“Kapiolani is nicely paved and, although the work on Ala Moana is still under way, we’re very optimistic that it will be ready for Sunday.”

Marathon Week officially begins Wednesday with the 10 a.m. opening of the expo and packet pickup at the Hawaii Convention Center. Souvenirs and late registration ($280) also are available at the convention center through Saturday.

The marathon’s “tent city” at Kapiolani Park already is under construction. The finish line venue includes a shiatsu massage tent (free for finishers) and souvenir sales through Monday.

Marathon organizers anticipate surpassing the 31,000 mark for entries, although the actual race-day number might be closer to 27,000. One organizer said that many entrants may have registered in order to receive the special 40th anniversary timing chip that is included in the race packet, with a number of runners taking advantage of the $26.20 entry fee offered earlier this year.

NOTES

Svetlana Zakharova, who won three Honolulu Marathons and finished second a record six times, will be inducted into the Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame on Thursday night at Outrigger Canoe Club. …

Among those entered in Sunday’s race are 2008 Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay; Japan Airlines president Masaru Onishi, the World Masters Athletic world record holder for the 80-84 age group; and two-time Olympic fencing silver medalist Yuki Ota of Japan.