Chris Mewhort once polished off 32 doughnuts in one sitting.

Due to what he described as "a 24-hour-a-day craving to eat," he ultimately ended up weighing 345 pounds.

Exhorted by his doctor, he began running to improve his health and has since completed the Honolulu Marathon five times.

The last time it took him more than 8 hours.

Tomorrow, having shed more than 160 pounds since then, he hopes to trim 2 1/2 hours from his time.

Joyce Spoehr also will head to the starting line in the predawn darkness as she pursues her goal of running 75 marathons by the time she's 75 years old. Tomorrow will mark marathon No. 54.

Angela Kwong is flying high as she looks forward to her fourth marathon of the year — and second in a week.

In a year that also saw her compete in the prestigious Boston Marathon, she finished the Las Vegas Marathon last Sunday in a personal-best time and looks forward to a good run tomorrow.

"I've never done it before back to back," she said. "There are days that you say you can't run a marathon. But if you think about it, you can. I'm feeling absolutely unbelievable. I'm feeling awesome."

They're among more than 23,000 runners expected to take part in tomorrow's 37th annual running of the Honolulu Marathon.

The race will begin at 5 a.m. near Ala Moana Center, with a fireworks display heralding the start and sending the runners on a 26.2-mile trek from the starting line through Downtown Honolulu and Waikíkí to Hawai'i Kai and back to the finish line in Kapi'olani Park.

By the time registration ends today, marathon officials expect to exceed last year's total of 23,232 entrants.

Like last year, the overwhelming majority of runners in this year's event — 61.6 percent — hail from Japan.

Just under 10 percent of the runners are from the Mainland, while 23 percent call Hawai'i home.

But no matter where they're from, every runner in this year's Honolulu Marathon carries their own, personal reason for entering.

SHEDS FRUSTRATION

For Mewhort, this year's edition of the marathon represents the new life he gave himself after years of weight gain and frustrating efforts to shed pounds through running and races that always ended with him far behind the pack.

At times he would lose as much as 90 pounds but always ended up gaining it all back, plus several pounds more.

At 5 feet 9, Mewhort saw his weight double from 170 pounds when he got married in 1973 to 345 pounds just 18 months ago.

Since gastric bypass surgery the day after last year's Honolulu Marathon, Mewhort has lost 165 pounds of fat. He weighed in at 181 at his visit to his doctor this week.

Mewhort's inspiration to begin running — "or rather waddling," as he puts it — came six years ago when he received a lecture from his doctor that shocked him into trying to eat better and get in shape:

"He advised me that I was either going to have to change my exercise and diet habits or go out to Affordable Casket and pick out a nice box because he thought I would be dead in 24 months," Mewhort remembered.

Mewhort has since walked and jogged five of the past six Honolulu Marathons, skipping last year's race only because of his surgery date.

His message is one of inspiration and of gratitude to the runners who have supported him over the last six years.

Mewhort, 57, and wife, Halina Zaleski, 59, belong to the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club, where the members "are extremely helpful to any obese, fat person," Mewhort said. "The runners never sneer at any fat people, no matter what time you come in. I can't thank them enough."

It used to take him more than 8 hours to finish each Honolulu Marathon, when Mewhort would cross the finish line "with the clowns and the people in tuxedos and wedding dresses," he said. "There were no real serious runners left."

But after undergoing gastric bypass surgery, Mewhort is a new, slimmer man bent on achieving his goal of completing this year's marathon in under 6 hours.

MOVING TARGET

With 53 marathons on her record, Spoehr, 65, is well on her way to completing her goal of racing in 75 marathons by the age of 75.

Spoehr helped coach Punahou's girls track team in the 1960s and ran her own fastest time of 3:35 in the 1981 Honolulu Marathon.

But in 1994, when she turned 50, Spoehr picked a new target.

"In these (marathon) workshops they say set goals," she said. "So I went to a workshop and set a goal of 75 marathons by age 75. And I'm doing it."

As she gets older, however, Spoehr is anxious to complete all 75 marathons as soon as possible.

"It keeps taking longer and longer, so the sooner the better," she said.

Kwong, on the other hand, is running faster.

The 46-year-old pharmaceutical saleswoman just finished her third marathon this year in Las Vegas on Sunday and set a personal record of 3:44:08.

Kwong, a single mother, said her primary goal when she entered her first Honolulu Marathon five years ago was to set a good example for her son, OJ Haugen, who's now 17.

"I'm only 5-foot-2 and he's now 6-foot-1," she said, "but he thinks I'm an iron woman now. It doesn't matter what size you are. It's the size of your attitude, not the size of your altitude. Attitude determines your altitude."

PERSISTENCE PAYS

Mewhort's attitude changed long before his body began getting slimmer, stronger and healthier.

"He was quite a trouper," said Paula Carroll, the past president of the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club. "He was quite slow but he was very persistent. He would go out in the group that would start an hour beforehand so we didn't leave them out on the course forever and ever. Now Chris has been mopping them up, finishing with less than 8-minute miles."

Tomorrow, Mewhort, an accountant, will be focused on keeping himself on track to run his first Honolulu Marathon in under 6 hours.

He'll count every right step he takes.

"I'll run 200 paces, then walk 100 paces, run 200 paces, then walk 100 paces," Mewhort said. "After the first half, then I'll run 300 paces and walk 100 paces. If I'm still feeling OK, then I'll run 400 paces and walk 100 paces."

By the time he gets to the Diamond Head lighthouse heading toward the finish line at Kapi'olani Park, Mewhort hopes his mind and body will come together to say, "to hell with the walking — let's go for it."

Zaleski, a much faster runner, will finish the race about 90 minutes earlier. She'll then turn around and join her husband when he crosses the finish line.