By David Monti

The global track season may be in wind-down, but the organizers of the 2026 Kalakaua Merrie Mile (KMM) in Honolulu --scheduled for Saturday, December 12-- are just beginning to ramp-up for this year's race.Added to the JAL Honolulu Marathon slate of events in 2016, this year's race will feature the largest first prize of any road mile in the United States ($15,000) and will also offer $20,000 bonuses to the first finishers in the male or female categories if they set new world records.The out-and-back course on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki is World Athletics-certified and record-eligible.

"The increased prize money reflects what the Kalakaua Merrie Mile has become: a world-class race that brings some of the best athletes in the sport to Waikiki and showcases Hawaii on an international stage," said Honolulu Marathon Association president Dr. Jim Barahal.

Based on prize money alone, the KMM will have the second-largest total prize money purse of any road mile in the United States this year: $39,000.But when the two $20,000 world record bonuses are added in, the total possible payout becomes $59,000 which would be the largest of any domestic event.The Grand Blue Mile in Des Moines, Iowa, host of the USATF Road Mile Championships back in April, had the largest guaranteed purse this year: $51,000.

"We want the prize structure to match the quality of the competition and the growing stature of the KMM," Barahal added.

The current world records are 3:51.3 by Elliot Giles of Great Britain set in Düsseldorf in 2024 at the New Balance Kö Meile, and 4:20.98 by Diribe Welteji of Ethiopia set in Riga at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships.The course records for the KMM are 3:53.3 set by Edward Cheserek of Kenya in 2019, and 4:21.7 by Sinclaire Johnson of Portland, Ore., set in 2025.Johnson's time is #2 on the World Athletics all-time list.

"I was pleasantly surprised with what I ran," said Johnson after last year's race."Part of my goal this year is really trying to be fearless in races.So today I was fearless and it paid off."

The KMM uses a unique "chase" format.The elite women are given a pre-determined head start over the elite men (in 2025 it was 31 seconds), and prize money is paid based on the overall order of finish, men and women combined.The structure for 2026 goes six-deep: $15,000-8000-5000-3000-2000-1000.In addition, the athlete with the highest finish who does not share the same sex as the overall winner receives a special bonus of $5000.

The KMM serves as the warm-up event for the JAL Honolulu Marathon and Start to Park 10-K which take place on the following day.Many runners chose to do the both the mile on Saturday then either the marathon or 10-K on Sunday.Organizers are anticipating a record 50,000 entries this year across all events.

Registration is still open for all JAL Honolulu Marathon weekend events at the link here.

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