It was Jason Porter’s first time visiting Hawaii when he crossed the finish line of the Hapalua on Sunday morning, which completed his quest to run a half-marathon in all 50 states.
“It feels amazing,” Porter said after the 13.1-mile route also marked his 100th lifetime half-marathon. “I can relax now and enjoy the rest of my vacation.”
Porter flew in from Ohio last Thursday with his wife Chrissy and toddler daughter Skylar, and was joined by his stepmom, Pam Skinner, and dad, Andy Porter, who came just for the weekend to see their son accomplish his goal.
“I made a promise when he started this, that I would be there at the finish line,” Andy Porter said. “And now we’re here.”
Jason Porter was one of the 7,814 finishers of Sunday’s Hapalua — the spring half-marathon put on by the Honolulu Marathon Association — that saw a record number of registered runners, with more than 30% coming from out of state.
Around 9,800 runners were expected to complete the route that starts in Waikiki just before sunrise, makes a loop up Diamond Head and finishes at Kapiolani Park. At least 3,000 runners came from the U.S. mainland, Japan, Canada and other countries, said Jim Barahal, Honolulu Marathon Association president and CEO. He said the next closest Hapalua brought 8,500 runners.
“It’s now the second-largest destination event in Hawaii after the Honolulu Marathon, which last year brought 24,000 participants from outside of Hawaii,” Barahal said. “They bring a lot of people with them. Our studies in the past have indicated that for every participant there will be one other person with them.”
That includes Wendy Rolin, an educational coach from Alabama who, despite previously visiting Oahu, flew to Hawaii last Friday just to see her Honolulu-based daughter cross the finish line.
“That’s the point of the trip,” Rolin said. ” I love coming here, but the main reason is family, to be with her.”
Barahal said the pattern in the Hapalua followed the 2024 Honolulu Marathon events, which were dominated by locals and offshore visitors, mainly from the U.S., where a post-COVID-19 running boom has fueled interest in the Hapalaua and the Honolulu Marathon events among runners in their 20s and 30s.
“We shut down the Hapalua in 2000 and 2021 for COVID-19 and we only had 4,000 runners in the Hapalua in 2022, so it’s been a real road back,” Barahal said. “This year we are expecting at least 1,800 runners from the U.S. mainland, 1,000 from Japan, and up to 400 from other international countries outside of Japan.”
He said the higher U.S. numbers represent a shift from the past when Japan supplied the largest group of offshore participants for the Hapalua and the marathon. Runners from Canada in the Hapalua represent a small sample size, but Barahal said this year’s 282 entrants are up 51% over last year.
“There’s no question that there’s a new running boom going on in the United States and in Hawaii. The social aspect of running has been growing a lot in the last few years, and I think it’s a post-COVID phenomenon,” Barahal said.”We’re getting a lot of people both locally and from the mainland and they are young.”
Fred Chen, a finisher of Sunday’s Hapalua, also is an organizer of the Kakaako Run Club that brings 60 to 80 people to its weekly Tuesday night runs. With the boom of local runners’ clubs, Chen said “running has almost become cool.”
Sunday’s Hapalua was more of an average workout for the 53 finishers from Kakaako Run Club, some of whom spend their Sundays running half-marathon distances, all at different paces.
“Even if we’re not running together, we’re cheering on everyone we see from the run club at the race,” Chen said. “When you’re used to training with people, you can kind of rely on the people you run with to keep your pace, to keep you relaxed and calm, which is a lot of what racing is about.”
Barahal said the Hapalua, like the Honolulu Marathon, holds appeal for newcomers because it does not require qualifying times and allows all participants to finish.
“The Hapalua is up about 18% over last year,” he said.
“We were going to be here in 2021, but then COVID happened, so we had to delay (the trip)” Jason Porter said. “This has been years in the making.”
More Japanese runners
Barahal said the Hapalua will double the number of runners that it had from Japan last year, but currency challenges remain.
“It’s been a tough build back. We’re about halfway back to where we were in 2019 for the Hapalua,” he said.
Still Eric Takahata, managing director for Hawai‘i Tourism Japan, said Japanese entrants for the Hapalua are outpacing Japan’s overall tourism recovery in Hawaii and bookings from Japan for the marathon held in December, along with the 10K and the Merrie Mile related events, are expected to trend up too.
“The Hapalua and the marathon events provide a definite reason for a traveler to come to Hawaii. These are travelers that maybe wouldn’t come for the sand and surf, but they will come here to run,” Takahata said. “We are seeing niche travelers return, especially as exchange rates between the yen and the U.S. dollar improve.”
Takahata said the exchange rate was 145 yen to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday compared to 155 yen to the U.S. dollar last month.
“The sweet spot is 140 yen to the dollar and below,” he said.
Tetsuya “Ted” Kubo, president and chief executive officer of JTB Hawaii Inc., said the Hapalua “is an event to watch, ” but it has a small footprint so the “big movement” is around the full marathon in December.
Kubo said that the travel company saw about 30% more Honolulu Marathon-related travelers in 2024 compared with 2023. Kubo said the increase in marathon package sales in 2024 made it feasible for JTB to bring back its higher-amenity visitors.
Barahal said the changing mix of runners has been healthy for business, which is only going to improve as the Japan market strengthens. He added that a key part of the Honolulu Marathon Association’s success has been the development of other products like the Hapalua in the spring and in December the Start to Park 10K, which covers the first 10K of the marathon course and ends in Kapiolani Park where participants may wait for their marathon-running friends and family.
Barahal said the Kalakaua Merrie Mile, a 1-mile race in Waikiki held Dec. 7 and followed by a beach party, drew 3,000 participants, a sign that it too has grown in popularity.
“Early entries for this December’s marathon events are up about 21% and that doesn’t even include Japan entries, which have not started,” Barahal said. “We had a record 36,000 runners in 2024 and we’ll go over 40,000 this year.”
Sports tourism
The success of events like the Hapalua, which falls under the Honolulu Marathon, has the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and its partners looking for their own sports tourism wins.
HTA’s budget for sports and signature events was $7.3 million in fiscal year 2025, and the board-approved budget request for fiscal year 2026 is $9.9 million.
The Honolulu Marathon applied for its first HTA Signature Event funding, which provided $250,000 in 2024 and was used mainly to offset the drop in Japanese attendance by capitalizing on favorable running trends from the mainland.
“It was instrumental in last year’s growth so hopefully we’ll get it again,” Barahal said.
Among the other recent marquee sporting events supported by HTA were the Maui Invitational to Lahaina, World Surf League’s 2024 Hawaiian Islands Present HIC Hale‘iwa Pro, the PGA Tour at The Sentry at The Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui, the Sony Open on Oahu and Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on Hawaii island.
The reason that HTA is placing greater emphasis on sports travel is that experiential tourism is now considered a top driver for travel demand, and sports viewing or participation has emerged as one of the key experiences that travelers are seeking.
Fred Dixon, president and CEO of Brand USA, who spoke at the HTA Tourism Conference last fall, said Brand USA recently ran an “Experience it all” marketing campaign which emphasized that “a trip to the U.S. isn’t just about reaching your destination. It’s about discovering a travel experience that’s tailored to your desires and consistently exceeds expectations. It’s not just about the places that you visit; it’s about the emotions, the stories and lasting moments that you create.”
Hawaii Sen. Lynn DeCoite (D, Lanai-Molokai-Hana), chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism, also noted at the HTA Tourism Conference, that she wanted to “look at how sports and partnerships with professional teams can play a multifaceted role in enriching our youth athletes with opportunities while also enriching our industry with sport and fan-related travel. Whether it’s to see your favorite basketball team play an exhibition game here or offseason training for baseball or football, these opportunities builds ties and relationships and strengthens our economy. We can also use emerging sports trends to attract new players, I mean visitors.”
