There was the debut of a new timing system, a change in the finish-line setup and the fact that Burke himself was in his first year handling the event.

Still, as the 37th annual race, which took place in prime weather conditions, was wrapping up Sunday, Burke said he was happy.

"I think it was a huge success and I was very, very pleased with how everything went,'' he said to The Maui News.

One of Burke's biggest contributions was the use of microchips that allowed officials to record runners' times at various marks, in addition to their final time, and get the results online quickly.

"It was the first time the marathon ever used that device,'' he said. "As an athlete was finishing (Sunday), every 15 minutes we could download those results to the Web site during the event.

"It's about time the Maui Marathon took a step into the 21st century with its timing.''

Burke also made a few other changes to the course, such as the two finish lines that kept the half marathon and full marathon runners separated as they came in.

However, the separate chutes had other perks as well, such as their own clocks, which made finish-line photographs with each runner's time listed overhead easier to get.

"It gives you the ability to run two separate races across the finish line, with two groups of volunteers giving you the ease and the ability to run the finish more effectively and efficiently,'' he said. "My first trip here, I noticed the width of the road and I knew within moments I could run the finish line that way.''

Overcast skies cut down on the number of heat-related issues for the competitors. The marathon's medical staff went through all but one of the 50 bags of intravenous fluid it had on hand, but several of the course's aid stations found themselves with leftover water at the end of the race.

"We were fortunate because there was a lot of cloud cover, so it didn't get as hot and muggy as it could've been,'' Burke said. "We were literally picking up half the water (from the aid stations) in some cases.''

The success of the race extended beyond the actual course and all of the planning involved. Many charitable organizations were able to reach their own goals, such as a leukemia/lymphoma group that had just shy of 200 athletes in the race and raised nearly $800,000 toward its cause.

Burke said he's already receiving inquiries about helping out at next year's event.

"A lot of people were taking a wait-and-see kind of attitude to see what kind of job we did,'' said Burke, who already had scheduled meetings Monday with potential future sponsors. "I probably made a page, page and a half of notes – there were little things I saw out of line that I would change for next year.

"September 14 is the date and we're looking forward to a good year.''