On Thursday morning, organizers of the Great Aloha Run held a press conference to announce the event's revival, as well as a few changes to the route of the race.
The Great Aloha Run held its 41st edition in February 2025, with no race held in 2026. Led by the Affordable Hawai‘i Foundation, the event is being rebranded as the DoHo Great Aloha Run 5K, set to take place on President's Day 2027.
A news conference held at Pickles at Forté in downtown Honolulu revealed more about the Monday, Feb. 15 race. Prior editions of the event began at Aloha Tower and ended at Aloha Stadium, a stretch of 8.1 miles.
Carole Kai Onoyue, who founded the Great Aloha Run in 1985, gave a glowing endorsement for the new direction of the event, which has raised over $20 million to 150 charities over the years. The emphasis towards charitable efforts ahead of the 2027 events will go towards homelessness and mental health.
Avalon Group CEO and Affordable Hawai‘i Foundation founder Christine Camp was on hand at Thursday's presser at Pickles at Forté —one of the Avalon Group's properties — to talk about the downtown focus of the route. "We're featuring a lot of things related to the downtown business improvement district," said Camp. "In this run, we'll go through all of the beautiful businesses and the buildings in historic Chinatown, and it'll be a three-mile walk or run to enjoy the day, enjoying your downtown on the road, including Chinatown. … We hope that you will all come to join us."
The 2027 5K race is the equivalent of 3.1 miles and will go through portions of downtown Honolulu, beginning at Avalon Group's Topa Financial Center and ending on Fort Street.
With the new Aloha Stadium set to open in the spring of 2029, Camp says she's discussed bringing the race's finish line back to Hālawa in 2030 with stadium developer Stanford Carr.
For the time being, some believe the shortened trail will attract more runners.
"I think the fact that this is a 5K race now will open it up to a whole new group of runners or walkers," said Andy Sugg, chief of staff for the City and County of Honolulu. (A distance of 8.1 miles) is a pretty good race, and the race was fabulous. But I think it may have scared some folks off from running — 5K is 3.1 miles, and that will be really a great opportunity for folks who might not be hardcore runners who just want to go out for a little leisurely stroll on President's Day to get involved for a great cause, of course."
Registration for the 2027 Great Aloha Run is limited to the first 5,000 participants to sign up on the event's website.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
