Runners take your mark! Feb. 20, 2023 will be Carole Kai’s final year as lead promoter and organizer. This will be your final chance to run with Carole in the 39th Hawaii Pacific Health Great Aloha Run and support some of your favorite charities. After nearly four decades of philanthropy for more than 150 nonprofit organizations, Carole Kai, the run’s co-founder and president, today announced.
“You can imagine how emotional this decision has been,” said Kai. “Since the first Great Aloha Run in 1985, we have been able to raise $16 million in support of more than 150 nonprofits. Watching as many as 25,000 people every year lace up their running shoes for their health and the health of our larger community, has been a tremendous gift.”
“At the same time, I look forward to enjoying more time with my husband, Eddie, and we are looking forward to traveling more.”
Deadline to register for early entry, which includes a discounted fee and a complimentary In-Training T-shirt, is Oct. 31. Register online now.
Kai pioneered the art of combining friendly competition with philanthropy in 1974, with the establishment of the Carole Kai Bed Race, which she ran until 1994. Eleven years after the first bed race, Kai and the late Jack Scaff, a cardiologist and founder of the Honolulu Marathon, co-founded the Great Aloha Run.
“The Great Aloha Run has always been a huge undertaking and its success is a direct reflection of our wonderful Volunteers, Board of Directors and staff,” said Kai. “But the bedrock of our success has been the support of our Community. The people of Hawaiʻi are tremendously compassionate and generous, and it is only through that spirit of Aloha that this run has been able to contribute so much to those in need.
“Even as I look forward to the next chapter of my life, I am filled with gratitude for what we have all been able to do for our Community.”
The Great Aloha Run Board of Directors will honor Kai’s commitment to Hawaiʻi in December with a half-hour retrospective broadcast on KHON2.
The Hawai‘i Pacific Health Great Aloha Run Expo will be Feb. 18-19, 2023, at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall and the final Hawai`i Pacific Health Great Aloha Run will be Monday, Feb. 20, 2023 (Presidents’ Day). Then, our final event, “Aloha, Great Aloha Run,” a celebration featuring Hawaii’s finest entertainers, will be Saturday, March 18.
“Although I am retiring and stepping back from the day-to-day operations of this event, my heart will always be with the Great Aloha Run and for the countless volunteers who have made the GAR what it is today!” Kai continued.
“I wish them well as they continue the tradition of raising needed dollars for our Community.”
