Jim Barahal held out hope. But finally, the Honolulu Marathon president decided there are too many variables caused by COVID-19 to hold the 26.2-mile race scheduled for Dec. 13.

“It’s not the right thing at the right time at the right place,” Barahal said, Thursday after it was announced the marathon, and its associated 10K and mile events are canceled.

He and other organizers had come up with a plan that included runners starting in waves. An expectation of many fewer people at the starting line and along the course than usual would help make it work, he said.

“I think there’s still a perception that this would be a mega event, but that wasn’t going to be the case,” Barahal said. “Not the 30,000-people as usual, much smaller. My optimism was based on it not being a mega event.”

Barahal was especially hopeful in early summer, when Hawaii’s COVID-19 numbers were very low. But the spike here causing a second shutdown hurt the marathon’s chances.

Based on Honolulu’s tiered re-opening plan, “the maximum gatherings at the time of the marathon would be 25 or 50 people,” Barahal said. “So it would be pretty challenging to justify it, even if it’s just 5,000.”

Barahal, a physician who has studied viruses closely, said the unpredictability of COVID-19 makes it impossible to know if any event can be held safely less than two months from now.

“You want to make sure,” he said. “I could see a path medically, but it became a little blurry the past couple weeks.”

Even a 5,000-person marathon would require many public resources that could be stretched thin if the pandemic numbers spike again.

“Any major marathon requires a lot from the city and county. EMS, HPD, and also the state to some extent,” Barahal said. “We took everyone’s input and made a decision. We desperately wanted to do it, but not desperate in the sense to be reckless.”

About 10,000 people were registered (most through early registration, pre-pandemic), with around 2,000 from outside of Hawaii, he said. They have been offered deferment for entry in the 2021 Honolulu Marathon or a virtual experience on what would have been this year’s race day.

“Do we feel good about it? Absolutely not,” Barahal said. “You have to do what is right to protect the community. Just emotionally, I lump it into another part of a way of life that has been taken away from all of us.”

Every other major marathon worldwide was canceled since the pandemic hit, most called off about two months before race day.

“We hung in there as long as we could,” Barahal said. “We’ll focus on the Hapalua (half-marathon) next April.”