Posted on: Monday, September 24, 2001

Marathon awaiting entries from Japan

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Banner or bust?

As the Honolulu Marathon Association enters a crucial stage in its preparations, association president Jim Barahal says it remains to be seen whether Japanese runners — who traditionally account for the majority of the field — will choose to stay home in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The 2001 Honolulu Marathon is scheduled for Dec. 9.

Barahal said that prior to the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., all indications had pointed to a significant increase in Japanese participation, a result of the interest raised by Japanese marathoner Yoko Takahashi's gold medal performance at the Sydney Olympics.

"Based on what all the travel agents were telling us, we were looking at a 10 percent to 20 percent increase," Barahal said.

"Obviously (the attacks) will have some impact," he said. "It's just too early to tell how much. Tourism as a whole is down right now."

Since the mid-1990s, strong Japanese participation has helped make the Honolulu Marathon one of the largest in the world. More than 14,000 runners from Japan made up the 26,000 entries in last year's marathon.

While a few Japanese entries have trickled in since the marathon association's Japan operations started its promotional cycle in July, Barahal said the bulk of Japanese entries usually come in September and October.

Barahal said the association was to have met with Japanese sponsors last week, but that meeting was postponed for later next month.

"We'll have a better idea of what to expect after that," he said.

To date, the marathon association has received 6,000 entries, most from local runners taking advantage of the early-entry discount for Hawai'i residents. That's up from 5,500 at the same time last year.

"From a race point of view, there's a lot of time between now and December," Barahal said. "World events will determine what happens, and none of us really know what to expect over the next few months. We'll just have to wait and see. I think everyone is still in a state of shock."