Merrie Mile to pay $15,000, richest US road mile
Men and women race together in Waikiki on December 12, and the top check goes to whoever crosses first.
The 2026 Kalakaua Merrie Mile will pay $15,000 to its winner, the largest first prize of any road mile in the United States, CITIUS MAG reported. The race runs in Waikiki on December 12. There are also $20,000 bonuses on offer to the first male or female finisher who sets a world record.
The money goes six deep on combined order of finish. Second gets $8,000, third $5,000, fourth $3,000, fifth $2,000 and sixth $1,000. On top of that there is a $5,000 bonus for the highest finisher who is not the same sex as the overall winner.
How the mixed scoring works
The elite women get a head start over the elite men, 31 seconds in 2025, and everyone is scored together. The course is an out and back on Kalakaua Avenue and it is World Athletics certified and record eligible, which matters because plenty of road mile courses are not.
That format is why the top check is genuinely open. Last year Sinclaire Johnson ran 4 minutes 21.7 seconds to win the whole thing outright, which moved her to No. 2 on the all-time list and left her less than a second off the world record.
The records in play
The women's world record is 4 minutes 20.98 seconds, set by Diribe Welteji in Riga in 2023. The men's is 3 minutes 51.3 seconds, run by Elliot Giles in Dusseldorf in 2024. Course records are Edward Cheserek's 3 minutes 53.3 seconds from 2019 and Johnson's mark from 2025.
Full fields will be announced later. The race will stream live and free on the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel and the JAL Honolulu Marathon social channels.
What it actually means
Road miles have not been a place where anyone makes real money, so a $15,000 winner's check plus a live record bonus is a step up for the discipline. The combined scoring is the part worth watching. Johnson's run last year showed the women's head start is calibrated close enough that a woman can take the biggest payout, not a consolation prize for the fastest woman. Add a certified course where the world record is actually eligible, and December 12 in Waikiki has a real shot at producing a mark that counts.
The winner of the 2026 Kalakaua #MerrieMile will receive $15,000, the largest first-place prize of any road mile in the USA.
Win the long run conversation
One email a day. Under three minutes. Marathon results, shoe fights and training arguments, settled.