Honolulu, HI

The Waikiki / Diamond Head / Kapiolani Park / Ala Wai Canal area is perfect for any avid runners. All these areas have shoulder lanes or side walks to run on. You can easily run up to 10 miles if you circle each of these areas. If you’re like me and go after work around 5:30 p.m. you’ll be in time to catch the sun setting while you’re running.

I love running in this area. It’s a remarkable place to run if you like variety in your run. It’s a very scenic route. You’ll run down the Ala Wai Blvd, see the old hotels of Waikiki, Waikiki Beach, Kapiolani Park, Diamond Head, the ocean, the sunset, War Memorial and Kapiolani Park. Though I would not suggest this run to those that like to do a continuous uninterrupted run. This route has numerous stops because you’re crossing the street or the side walk gets congested with people.

We started at the old church at Kapiolani Community College on Diamond Head road. It’s a great place to start because the bathrooms are newly built and a great place to end because next to the bathrooms is an exercise area with sit-up benches, pull up bars and other equipment. The area has lots of free parking if you start at Kapiolani Community College.

It’s also a great place to start depending on what kind of start you want. You have a choice of first running downhill towards the Ala Wai Blvd where it will flatten out or you have a choice to run downhill towards Kahala but when you circle around Diamond Head crater you’ll soon encounter your first hill.

We started downhill first. It’s a great place to begin because you’re shaded by the trees and you get a bit of a view of Waikiki. When you finally get down to the intersection of Paki St and Monsarrat Ave you have the options of: 1. Keep going straight to circle Kapiolani Park, 2. Turn left on Paki to simply circle Diamond Head Crater or 3. Turn right and head for Ala Wai Blvd for about a 3 mile round trip run.

We continued down to the Ala Wai. This is nice because in terms of temperature, it’s the coolest part of the run. The street has a continuous breeze and because the street is bordered by big apartments and condos, it’s also the most shaded area of the run. The only draw back is the number of stoplights on this road.

We ran down to Nui St and made a left here. Then another left onto Kalakaua Ave so that we can head back to Kapiolani Park through Waikiki. I love running through Waikiki on Kalakaua Ave. I love it because it’s very scenic in terms of people watching and just the variety of buildings and things you can see.

Since the sidewalk in front of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, Moana Surfrider and the beach tends to get a bit crowded, I love the fact that you need to vary your speed in order to get in front of the pedestrians. These areas tend to get congested and I enjoy looking for the little gaps between people that I can quickly speed up and zip through.

You also end up running by the ocean too. Once you past Moana Surfrider you’ll have Waikiki Beach to your right. When you get into Kapiolani Park, you keep to the right because the path will fork and you’ll continue to run next to the ocean until you hit the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium.

From here we continued our run to the intersection of Paki St and Diamond Head Rd. Here again you have a choice on how you want to end your run. 1. You can make the left on Paki St and run out to Monsarrat Ave and face the same hill you came down on or 2. Turn right onto Diamond Head Rd and face two hills before finishing your run.

Since I love to torture myself, I made the right. It’s a great way to finish because you’ll have the ocean to your right side. The water is so beautiful to run next to. I continued my run, circling Diamond Head crater, passing little triangle park known as Fort Ruger Park and faced the last hill. My total mileage for this run is approx. 7.25 miles. The afternoon was beautiful to run.

If you want to extend your run you have many options.

Circling Diamond Head crater on Diamond Head Rd, Monsarrat Ave, and Paki St = approx. 4 miles.

Circling Kapiolani Park on Paki St, Monsarrat Ave and Kalakaua Ave = approx 2 miles. Here you have many options as to how to circle the park. It offers numerous paths if you want to add a little more distance. You can also include the zoo to add more distance.

Round trip on Ala Wai Blvd = approx. 3 miles depending where you start.

If you REALLY want to add mileage, you run out to and circle Ala Moana Park.

Free parking is also located on Paki St if you decide to start at the Kapiolani Park instead of the college.

Happy runnings!