TOP MILERS HEADED FOR HONOLULU FOR KALAKAUA MERRIE MILE IN DECEMBER
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission
(27-Oct) — Twenty-four of the world’s top middle-distance runners will be gathering in Honolulu on December 12 for the tenth edition of the Kalakaua Merrie Mile, a World Athletics Label road race and part of the 53rd JAL Honolulu Marathon weekend. The race, held on Kalakaua Avenue adjacent to Waikiki Beach the day before the marathon, will feature eight Olympians representing six nations, including six international medalists.
“There’s no race quite like the Kalakaua Merrie Mile,” said Honolulu Marathon Association president, Dr. Jim Barahal. “We bring World Championships medalists and Olympians to the heart of Waikiki, combining world-class competition and exceptional prize money with an atmosphere you simply can’t find anywhere else.”
Indeed, the race will offer the largest first-place prize of any road mile in the world this year: $15,000. In addition, using a unique battle-of-the-sexes format, the race will a out a total of $39,000 in guaranteed prize money. That’s the second-largest purse of any road mile in the world this year.
“The Merrie Mile has earned its place among the world’s premier road miles, while retaining a character and spirit that are uniquely Hawaiian,” Barahal added.
Leading the charge in the women’s division will be Dorus Ewoi of Kenya, silver medalist at the 2025 World Athletics Championships 1500m. Ewoi, 30, lives and trains in North Carolina with the Puma Elite Running team, has a mile personal best of 4:17.62 (3:54.92 for 1500m), and will run the Merrie Mile for the first time. It will also be her first trip to Hawaii.
“I’m truly grateful and excited to be part of this event,” said Ewoi, who ran for Campbell University in the Big South Conference during her NCAA career. “Being my first time in Hawaii, and at the event, makes it even more special. I’m looking forward to embracing the challenge, growing through the experience, and making the most of every moment.”
Her biggest challenger is likely to be American Addy Wiley, the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships 800m bronze medalist. Wiley, also making her Merrie Mile debut, is the reigning USA road mile champion and the runner-up at the 2026 USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in both the 800m and 1500m. At the recent World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, she finished tenth in the mile. Wiley has a mile personal best of 4:25.96 and has run 3:58.96 for 1500m.
Other podium contenders include 2025 USATF 5-K road running champion Josette Andrews; reigning Commonwealth Games mile champion Abbey Caldwell of Australia; sixth-place finisher at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 1500m, Susan Ejore-Sanders of Kenya; and triple 2026 Asian Games medalist Nozomi Tanaka of Japan.
The leading entrant on the men’s side is 2025 USATF 1500m champion, Ethan Strand. The 24-year-old former University of North Carolina star, who ran a personal best of 3:46.97 in the mile last July at the Prefontaine Classic, will take on the Merrie Mile for the first time. He is just one of six men in the field who have broken 3:50 for the mile. He stayed on Oahu last year in advance of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, using the island as a training base.
“I am excited to get my season rolling with the Merrie Mile this year,” said Strand, whose father Scott was a 4:00.01 miler. “I love the atmosphere and energy that comes with a marathon weekend, and I can’t wait to experience it in Honolulu.”
Vince Ciattei, the reigning USATF 5000m champion and two-time national road mile champion, could be Strand’s biggest challenger. The 31-year-old has a mile personal best of 3:48.34 and has run the Merrie Mile three times, with a best finish of second place in 2023. He recently finished eighth in the mile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships.
Cross Champs. Ollie Hoare is the Commonwealth Games champion for 2022 at 1,500 meters, photo by Kevin Morris.
Two Commonwealth Games medalists from Australia are also competing. Oliver Hoare won gold in the 1500m in 2022, and Ky Robinson won gold in the 10,000m and took silver in the 5000m at the 2026 Games. Nico Young, the USATF 10,000m champion in 2025 who ran 3:48.73 in the mile, is also in the race, as is reigning Canadian 1500m champion Foster Malleck.
The race uses a unique “chase” format. The elite women get a predetermined head start over the elite men (in 2025 it was 31 seconds), and prize money is paid based on the overall combined finish order of men and women (both the men and the women will have pacemakers). The 2026 prize money structure goes six-deep: $15,000-8000-5000-3000-2000-
“We want the prize structure to match the quality of the competition and the growing stature of the Merrie Mile,” said Barahal, who has steadily increased the prize money since the event’s inception in 2016.
The race also uses a World Athletics-certified, record-eligible course (measured by Justin Kuo), so world and national records can be set. The course records are 3:53.3 for the men, set by Kenyan Edward Cheserek in 2019, and 4:21.66 for the women, set by American Sinclair Johnson in 2025. Fully automatic (photo) timing will be used.
Fans worldwide can watch the race LIVE with support from CitiusMag.com. The event will stream live on the CitiusMag YouTube channel and the JAL Honolulu Marathon social channels.
The full elite fields for the 2026 Kalakaua Merrie Mile are below (Name, Nation, Team Affiliation, Mile PB, Road Mile PB, 1500m PB)
WOMEN –
Josette Andrews, USA, On Athletics Club, 4:20.81i, 4:17, 3:59.72
Abbey Caldwell, AUS, Puma, 4:20.51, None, 3:56.12
Kayley DeLay, USA, Brooks Beasts TC, 4:23.77, 4:17, 4:04.64
Susan Ejore-Sanders, KEN, On Athletics Club, 4:20.61i, 4:18, 3:56.07
Angelina Ellis, USA, UA Dark Sky Distance, 4:24.46, 4:34, 4:06.02
Dorcus Ewoi, KEN, Puma Elite Running, 4:17.62, 4:17, 3:54.92
Gabija Galvydyte, LTU, Nike Swoosh TC, 4:21.43, 4:36.8, 3:59.74
Heather MacLean, USA, adidas, 4:17.01, 4:26, 3:57.79
Taryn Parks, USA, adidas/Golden Peaks TC, 4:23.10i, 4:35, 4:05.14
Annika Reiss, USA, UA Dark Sky Distance, 4:24.21, 4:27, 4:03.54
Nozomi Tanaka, JPN, New Balance, 4:28.54i, 4:24, 3:59.19
Addy Wiley, USA, adidas, 4:25.96, 4:25, 3:58.96
MEN –
Davis Bove, USA, UA Dark Sky Distance, 3:51.08i, 4:03, 3:33.49
Vince Ciattei, USA, UA Dark Sky Distance, 3:48.34, 3:51, 3:30.90
Allon Clay, JPN, JAL / New Balance, None, None, 3:37.84
Oliver Hoare, AUS, On Athletic Club, 3:47.48, 3:54, 3:29.41
Festus Lagat, KEN, UA Baltimore Distance, 3:48.93, 3:49, 3:29.03
Foster Malleck, CAN, Under Armor, 3:51.39i, 4:07, 3:32.38
Gary Martin, USA, Brooks Beasts TC, 3:48.76, None, 3:32.03
Trent McFarland, USA, On, 3:52.21, None, 3:33.17
Ky Robinson, AUS, On Athletics Club, 3:50.80, None, 3:35.48+
Ethan Strand, USA, Nike Swoosh TC, 3:46.97, None, 3:30.25
Matt Wilkinson, USA, UA Dark Sky Distance, 3:53.04i, 4:01, 3:37.72
Nico Young, USA, adidas, 3:48.72, 3:55, 3:33.98
i = Indoor mark
PHOTO: Dorcus Ewoi of Kenya winning the 2026 B.A.A. Invitational Mile in Boston (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Scott Strand after winning the 2025 USATF 1500m title in Eugene, Oregon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
ENDS
