Decade after decade after decade, Jonathan Lyau has been consistent and persistent at running long distances.

Since 1979, Lyau has completed 31 Honolulu Marathons. For 17 of them, he was the top local finisher, the last honor coming at age 48 in 2012 with a time of 2 hours, 54 minutes, 20 seconds. He’s run 28 of them in under three hours, including the last 25.

Six years after his last Honolulu Marathon, Lyau returns to Sunday’s race, aiming to join a select group of persistent and consistent marathoners who are proving athletic abilities don’t decline with age. The 57-year-old Honolulu resident is attempting to clock a sub three-hour finishing time in five separate decades of racing. To go under three hours, Lyau would need to average a sub 6:52 pace per mile for 26.2 miles.

“It’s not going to be as easy as six years ago,” said Lyau, a 2009 Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame inductee. “Six years ago I was pretty confident I could break three. I was just trying to break three and not being too aggressive. This year I have a little tighter window, tighter margin of error. Everything has to go right. I am capable. I know the paces in my workouts show that I am capable.”

The Association of Road Racing Statisticians reported in 2017 there were 41 marathoners who turned in sub three-hour times in five different decades. At age 53, Japan’s Keizo Yamada is believed to be the first to accomplish the feat at the 1980 Honolulu Marathon. All but two on that list hit their fifth-decade mark after 2000, and only one is a woman. Furthermore, only five from that list clocked a sub three in a sixth decade.

This select group was the focus of a study published in February’s Frontiers in Physiology. It cited a marastats.com analysis of 3 million marathon runners from around the world over the past two decades, finding only 4% of male runners and 1% of female runners finished a marathon in under three hours.

The study reported that “with consistent training and racing regimens, it is possible to limit the age-related decline in marathon performance to less than 7% per decade at least until 60-years-old.”

“Training for a marathon, especially for five different decades, it’s different from a 5K or 10K,” Lyau said. “You have to train longer distances, you have to build a lot of strength. People get hurt and then it’s hard to keep consistent in a marathon distance for that long. As you get older, it’s harder to be consistent. Some people will take breaks and I kind of kept running.”

After a 2:58:56 time, eighth-best amongst Hawaii finishers at the 2015 Honolulu Marathon, Lyau decided to retire from marathon racing. It was his 40th overall marathon, and with the fifth decade years away, he wondered if a sub three was even possible.

Patience helped Lyau return to running after injuries led to a decrease in mileage the last few years. There was even a year he barely ran. He biked, swam, cross trained, and gradually added the miles.

In early 2020, he ran a 10K, looked at his time, and thought he could still maintain a good pace. He contemplated the fifth-decade mark, possibly at a mainland race, and then the pandemic altered everything.

With gyms closed, he started logging more miles on the roads, often with his son, Spencer, an ‘Iolani student.

“I realized I was getting stronger in the long distances again,” said Lyau, who increased his mileage from 30 to 40 a week to 50 during the pandemic. “Then I started thinking if I can’t travel, I wondered if I could do it at Honolulu. My workout paces indicated that I was capable so I said might as well take a chance and try to do it here. It’ll be more meaningful to do it at Honolulu.”

Spencer was there last fall when Lyau logged his 100,000th mile, finishing at ‘Iolani where he is an assistant cross country coach alongside his wife, Kelli. He has manually logged every mile since he started running at McKinley High School, where he was a state track champion at 3,200 meters.

“That last injury wiped me out and reduced my mileage,” Lyau said. “I didn’t know if I’d even be running at this age. I got healthy. As long as I don’t get hurt and I feel healthy, I’ll hit (100K) by a certain date. It became a reachable goal once I started getting healthy again.”

His running group, Personal Best Training, didn’t resume in-person workouts until several months ago, which happened to coincide with marathon training season. About 15 of them are running Honolulu, and a few more ran this past Sunday’s California International Marathon.

“They’ve helped a lot,” Lyau said. “A lot of these workouts, I wouldn’t want to go out and do it on my own. I’m not in that kind of mindset anymore. Just running with my group, they help me out by being there and running with me.”

Odeelo Dayondon, who has trained under Lyau since 2014, said the group helped him achieve a bucket list of goals, including qualifying for the Boston Marathon and running sub three marathons.

“Running has always been his thing,” Dayondon said. “It helps that his family runs as well. His wife is an accomplished runner as well and now Spencer is doing really well and growing to love the sport as much as dad. It’s become part of his life, something he can’t live without. I know he’s had a few injuries over the years and had to slow down, but once he got back to 100 percent, there’s no stopping him. He’s chasing after goals again.”

Lyau won’t be alone during Sunday’s endeavor. A group runners plan to stick with him, some for part of the race to help him maintain the pace, some for the entirety since they want to finish under three.

“Hopefully some of us can finish together,” Lyau said. “That’s the goal, if we can all come in under three. That will be great.”

PACKET PICK-UP

Race packets can be picked up Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hawaii Convention Center. There is race merchandise for sale but no expo like previous years. Participants must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter the facility.

Late registration for Saturday morning’s Kalakaua Merrie Mile and Sunday’s marathon and Start to Park 10K can be done at the Convention Center.

There will be road closures and tow-away zones along the marathon course this weekend. Areas include Ala Moana, downtown, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Kahala, Aina Haina and Hawaii Kai.