Rain or shine, Ed Gayagas, 75, of Aiea, has run the Great Aloha Run every year since its inception in 1985. He is one of only 69 people to have done so.

"I’m looking forward to it with great anticipation," he said.

The event — held annually on Presidents Day — is just one way the retired Army colonel practices fitness with his family. Throughout the year, the Kapaa native runs at least 2 miles every other day but also swims, golfs and does martial arts (he’s a third-degree black belt in taekwondo).

In the weeks leading up to the Great Aloha Run, Gayagas increases his runs to about 6 miles every other day until the week before the race.

The relatively flat, 8.15-mile course starts at Aloha Tower and finishes at Aloha Stadium. More than 21,500 people participated in the event last year.

Gayagas stays motivated for the run in several ways. For one thing, he’s made it a rule that he can’t enjoy a beer until after finishing. Second, he gets his whole family involved. His wife and his two daughters and son, plus their spouses and children, have all run the race with him at one time or another. Daughter Cathy Weinhardt recently made a quilt out of all his Great Aloha Run T-shirts.

"Everybody knows that it’s good for your health," he said. "It really is an annual goal, but I try to motivate everybody throughout the year."

The ohana’s youngest participant this year is 5-year-old grandson Noah Gayagas. He ran for the first time in 2013 and signed up again this year. Gayagas’ wife, Norma, is excused because of a leg injury, but she’ll help welcome runners at Aloha Stadium.

"I’ve done a few, but it’s his joy," she said.

Daughter Crissy Gayagas, also an Army retiree, has run the race with her dad every year since moving back to Hawaii in 2008, as well as in previous years when she wasn’t deployed.

"He has always been a fan of fitness, whether it was taekwondo or running," she said.

She remembers how he demonstrated proper running form to her as a kid. Like her father, fitness became part of her lifestyle, though swimming is her favorite sport. Five years ago, the two trained for and ran the Honolulu Marathon together.

While the marathon required nine months of preparation, Ed Gayagas calls the Great Aloha Run "8 miles of fun" for a good cause.

The 170-pound Gayagas started running in 1981 while training for the Army. He participated in his first Great Aloha Run while assigned to Tripler Army Medical Center, running in formation with fellow soldiers. He ran solo four years later, recording his fastest time: 1 hour and 4 minutes.

"The thing that kept bringing me back to it was the camaraderie of running with people," he said. "There is some esprit as a result of running together, and I think that’s the great thing about running."

Gayagas, who lettered in basketball and track at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, starts his workouts with deep-breathing exercises and meditation, which he says includes self-healing. He describes the process as "moving" energy toward areas of concern, such as a sore knee. He swears by it.

"I can say, frankly, I have not had a really bad headache all these years because I can meditate the pain away," he said.

After meditation, he stretches and does some martial arts moves. Gayagas also works with weights in his home gym and said he aims for one hour of exercise daily.

He will further test his fitness this summer at the National Veterans Golden Age Games in Fayetteville, Ark., where he’ll compete in golf and swimming.