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Run · From 2947 Kalakaua Ave · Diamond Head, Honolulu

Gold Coast
Runs

Five routes out the front door: the errand run to Planet Fitness and Whole Foods with TheBus home, a ten-mile south-shore loop, the official Honolulu Marathon course, the Saturday market loop over Diamond Head, and a flat park shakeout. 47 miles in all, mapped and measured.

Acquiring satellites…

Warm-up · gym · lunch · bus home

Kahala Errand

Over the back of Diamond Head to Planet Fitness and Whole Foods.

3.7
miles
+192
ft of climbing
37 min
at 10:00 /mi

The shortest legal route to Kahala Mall: up Paki and Monsarrat, around the mauka side of the crater past the KCC lot, then Kilauea Avenue all the way down. Planet Fitness and Whole Foods share the Ewa end of the mall, and TheBus Route 14 leaves from that corner and drops you at your own front door, so the groceries ride and you do not.

Elevation

0501001502000123
feet · mileshover or touch for a point

Turn by turn

  1. 0.0Out the door and Diamond Head-bound (east) on Kalakaua for two blocks.
  2. 0.2At the Poni Moi Rd junction bear left (mauka) onto Paki Ave, the shaded top edge of Kapiolani Park.
  3. 0.9Right onto Monsarrat Ave. Steady climb past the back of the zoo and the Monsarrat food trucks.
  4. 1.4Monsarrat becomes Diamond Head Rd. Keep straight; the crater entrance tunnel is on your right.
  5. 1.7Left onto Makapuu Ave, just past the KCC lower lot (the Saturday market lot is right here).
  6. 2.0Right onto Kilauea Ave. Sidewalks both sides; it dips and curves 1.5 miles through Kaimuki and Kahala.
  7. 3.6Kahala Mall at the Kilauea / Waialae corner. Planet Fitness and Whole Foods are 100 m in, on the Ewa end.

The plan

  1. 1 · Run 3.7 miles

    Easy effort. The only hill is Monsarrat between miles 0.9 and 1.4; the last 1.5 miles on Kilauea are a gentle downhill. Bring: phone, HOLO card or $3 cash, a small lock, a dry shirt.

  2. 2 · Planet Fitness, Kahala Mall

    4211 Waialae Ave, Ewa end of the mall · (808) 210-6830. Mon–Thu 5 am–11 pm, Fri 5 am–10 pm, Sat–Sun 7 am–7 pm.

  3. 3 · Whole Foods Market Kahala

    Same mall, Suite 2000, 100 m from the gym · (808) 738-0820 · 7 am–10 pm daily. Hot bar and poke counter for an early lunch, then the groceries.

  4. 4 · Route 14 home

    Board at the “Waialae Ave + Kilauea Ave” stop at the mall corner, direction St. Louis Heights (via Kalakaua). About 12 minutes to the “Kalakaua Ave + Elks Club” stop outside 2947. Roughly hourly: Saturdays and Sundays about :27 past the hour (7:27, 8:27, 9:27, 10:27, 11:27, 12:28, 1:28, 2:29…); weekdays 8:23, 9:19, 10:19, 11:17, 12:19, 1:11, 2:14, 3:09, then 6:16, 7:20, 8:13, 9:12 pm. From the Aug 2024 timetable; check DaBus2 or Google Maps for live times.

Notes

Scenic variant
Go the other way round the crater: Diamond Head Rd along the ocean, Kahala Ave, then Hunakai St up to Kilauea. About 3.9 miles, and it is the road the bus brings you home on.

Marathon overlap

Marathon miles 6.1–7.3 (Monsarrat) and Kilauea Ave, which the race reaches at mile 9.7.

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A week that uses all of them

How they fit together

  • MonPark Shakeouteasy, strides on the grass
  • WedKahala Errandrun, lift, lunch, bus
  • SatSaturday Market Loopcrater loop with breakfast at KCC
  • SunThe Tenlong run, before sunrise

Together they rehearse most of the marathon: Kalakaua and Monsarrat, both climbs of Diamond Head Road, Kilauea Avenue and the finish along the park. Only the Kalanianaole out-and-back to Hawaii Kai is missing, and Route 23 from Kahala Mall gets you there.

Field notes

Before you go

Heat
Sunrise is around 6:30 in September and 7:00 by December. Start early; Diamond Head Road has no shade or water after KCC.
Traffic
Diamond Head Road is a narrow two-lane with a good sidewalk on the ocean side. On Kalanianaole run the shoulder facing traffic, or save it for race day.
TheBus
Adult fare $3 with a HOLO card or exact cash. Route 14 is the only line that stops at the door (Kalakaua Ave + Elks Club); Route 2 is the frequent one, from Kapahulu Ave a mile away.

Routes traced on OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) with pedestrian routing; distances are measured along the trace and rounded, elevation is from terrain data. Marathon course per honolulumarathon.org; the traced line is a close approximation of the certified course. Business hours and bus times as published September 2026, confirm before you rely on them.