By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

HONOLULU (26-Nov) — Backed by a record field of about 35,000 runners of all abilities, a combined total of fourteen Olympians are set to compete in the Honolulu Marathon and the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on the weekend of December 7th and 8th, race organizers announced today.  For the Olympic athletes –three in the marathon and 11 in the mile– this will be no island vacation.  They must be prepared to run fast, and several significant records could be broken in the mile.

“We have put together an incredible field of world-class athletes, including many Paris Olympians from the summer of 2024,” said Honolulu Marathon Association president Dr. Jim Barahal.  “The Kalakaua Merrie Mile is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most prestigious road miles, and the unique format in which the men chase the women to the finish line promises to deliver another incredible finish. The first athlete across the finish line receives $5,000 and a solid gold plaque.”

The mile, which will be held on Saturday, kicks off with about 2,500 citizen runners who will run the flat, World Athletics-certified, out-and-back course on Kalakaua Avenue adjacent to Waikiki Beach.  After that the professional athletes will line up with athletes in the women’s category getting a 32-second head start over the men.  Prize money is paid based on the combined finish order of men and women.

Leading the charge in the women’s division is reigning USATF 1500m champion and 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships 1500m silver medalist Nikki Hiltz.  The former Arkansas Razorback has competed in the Merrie Mile three previous times, and was fifth across the line last year behind the top four men.  Hiltz’s time of 4:28.07 was just a fraction off of their national and all-comers record of 4:28.0 set at the Grand Blue Mile in Des Moines in 2023, a record that could easily fall this year in Honolulu.  Hiltz was passed by Morgan Beadlescomb just steps from the finish line; the finish photo had to be used to separate them.

“I made a pretty hard move at 400 to go and nobody [in the women’s division] went with me,” Hiltz said after last year’s race.  “So when I heard people [behind me] I assumed it was the men.  I just wanted to beat as many bodies as possible the last 50 meters.”

Hiltz will have a strong group of women to push them this year including American Olympians Emily Mackay, Heather MacLean, and Weini Kelati; Irish Olympian Sophie O’Sullivan, Japanese Olympian Nozomi Tanaka, and Kenyan Olympian Susan Ejore-Sanders.  Sinclaire Johnson, the 2022 USA 1500m champion who was fourth in the 2024 Olympic Trials, will also be competing.

A formidable group of men will be trying to chase down the women, and three of them –Paris Olympians Oliver Hoare of Australia, Neil Gourley of Great Britain, and Hobbs Kessler of the USA– have run sub-3:50 miles during their careers.  Two other Paris Olympians, Americans Bryce Hoppel and Nico Young, will also be competing along with Australia’s Jack Anstey, the USA’s Vince Ciattei, and Kenya’s Festus Lagat.

In addition to Hiltz’s national record, athletes could challenge the USA all-comers records in Honolulu (3:56.58 for men and 4:28.0 for women), as well as the fastest time in the world by a woman this year (4:30.3), and the fastest times on U.S. soil this year (3:56.97 and 4:32.20).  There will be pacemakers for both the men’s and women’s fields.

Kalakaua Merrie Mile (athletes shown with 1500m and mile personal best times)

Men:

🇦🇺 Jack Anstey, 1500m PB: 3:35.37, Mile PB: 3:51.51
🇺🇸 Vince Ciattei, 1500m PB: 3:31.78, Mile PB: 3:50.56
🇬🇧 Neil Gourley, 1500m PB: 3:30.60, Mile PB: 3:47.74
🇦🇺 Oliver Hoare, 1500m PB: 3:29.41, Mile PB: 3:47.48
🇺🇸 Bryce Hoppel, 1500m PB: 3:42.62, Mile PB: 4:00.7 road
🇺🇸 Hobbs Kessler, 1500m PB: 3:29.45, Mile PB: 3:48.66
🇰🇪 Festus Lagat, 1500m PB: 3:33.25, Mile PB: 3:52.63
🇺🇸 Nico Young, 1500m PB: 3:34.56, Mile PB: 4:01.16
🇺🇸 Abe Alvarado, 1500m PB: Pacemaker, Mile PB:

Women:

🇰🇪 Susan Ejore-Sanders, 1500m PB: 3:56.07, Mile PB: 4:20.61
🇺🇸 Nikki Hiltz, 1500m PB: 3:55.33, Mile PB: 4:16.35
🇺🇸 Sinclaire Johnson, 1500m PB: 3:56.75, Mile PB: 4:33.80
🇺🇸 Weini Kelati, 1500m PB: 4:10.88, Mile PB: 4:30.16 road
🇺🇸 Emily Mackay, 1500m PB: 3:55.90, Mile PB: 4:23.79
🇺🇸 Heather MacLean, 1500m PB: 3:58.31, Mile PB: 4:20.41
🇮🇪 Sophie O’Sullivan, 1500m PB: 4:00.23, Mile PB: 4:33.30
🇯🇵 Nozomi Tanaka, 1500m PB: 3:59.19, Mile PB: 4:28.94
🇺🇸 Amaris Tyynismaa, 1500m PB: Pacemaker, Mile PB:

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