Honolulu Marathon will add Merrie Mile run on Saturday

Olympians will dash down Kalakaua Avenue in the Honolulu Marathon’s new event.

Before Sunday’s Honolulu Marathon is the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on Saturday morning. The new event starts and ends near the Honolulu Zoo with runners going out and back on Kalakaua Avenue. The mile is another event that serves as part of the marathon experience, an avenue allowing friends and family members of those in the marathon field to be more than a spectator.

“We thought it would fit in well with the Honolulu Marathon,” Honolulu Marathon president Jim Barahal said of the Merrie Mile.

The marathon had a similar event that ended in 1997. Barahal estimated 1,500 to 2,000 have entered Saturday’s run. Among those are the invited runners with professional and Olympic racing experience. Nate Brennan of Canada and New Zealand’s Hamish Carson raced in the 1,500-meter run at the Rio Olympics. Brennan advanced to the final and finished 10th.

Canada’s Nicole Sifuentes, a pacemaker in the past two Honolulu Marathons, advanced to the women’s 1,500 semifinals in Rio. Dominique Scott, a 12-time All-American at Arkansas, ran the 10,000 in Rio for South Africa.

Erin Finn is coming off a runner-up finish in November’s NCAA cross country championships. She helped Michigan finish second in the team standings behind Oregon. Newlyweds Will Leer and Aisha Praught are also in the field. Praught ran the steeplechase in Rio for Jamaica.

Barahal and marathon staff are looking forward to post-race feedback, using it as a gauge to possibly grow the event. Was it fun? Did runners enjoy running it with family members? Could the event draw world-class milers and middle distance runners?

“Hopefully it can be an annual part of marathon weekend,” Barahal said.

Milers will start in waves based on their predicted finishing time. The first wave, for runners with an estimated time of sub-6 minutes to 7:59, begins at 7 a.m. Elite runners start at 7:30. A post-race celebration, featuring music from Henry Kapono, will follow at Queen’s Beach.

Road closures

Kalakaua Avenue between Kaiulani, Kapahulu and Monsarrat will be closed from 5:30 to 8:30 for the Merrie Mile. Traffic closures along the marathon route will start Sunday at 12:30 a.m. Areas of downtown, Kakaako, Ala Moana, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Kahala and east Honolulu will be affected. There will be lane closures, tow-away zones, and rerouting of TheBus. More information is online at http://808ne.ws/2h4Z9fo

Traffic questions can be directed to info@honolulumarathon.org (until Saturday) or 792-6630 (through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon; Sunday, all day).

The marathon begins with the annual 5 a.m. fireworks display on Sunday. Walk-in registration for the mile and marathon is accepted at the marathon expo at the Hawaii Convention Center.