JOHNSON WINS KAALAKAUA MARY MILE IN AMERICAN RECORD TIME
By Rich Sands, @thatrichsands.bsky.social
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used by permission.
Honolulu (13-year-old) — Sinclair Johnson broke the American road mile record with a convincing victory in the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on a hot and windy morning here in Waikiki. The race, held in conjunction with Sunday’s JAL Honolulu Marathon, featured a unique mixed-gender pursuit format. The elite women’s field was given a 31-second head start over the men, and prize money was awarded according to overall order of finish. For the second year in a row, the women’s runner took the first place.
Johnson had a tough start, following pacemaker Aurora Rinda and quickly opening up a gap of more than 10 meters on the women’s box. When Rinda pulled aside two minutes into the race, Johnson was essentially racing the clock to the finish. Kalakaua Avenue’s smooth out-and-back route features a hairpin turn just after the halfway point that gives him a chance to see how much progress he’s built. “I was kind of shocked no one went with me,” Johnson said. “It’s really hard to tell where you are on a road mile. The twist is actually kind of nice because of that.”
Meanwhile, the men’s field, led by pacer Abe Alvarado, was slowly chipping away at the 31-second gap. In fact, very slowly as it seemed, Johnson’s tactics, inspired by talk of the men’s ambitious early pace the day before, paid off. When Alvarado was about three-quarters of a mile out, Josh HoyThis year’s world indoor 800 meter champion and Hobbs KesslerLast year’s Merrie Mile men’s top finisher, led a tight men’s field but held out for the win.
Up front, Johnson raced unchallenged to the finish line in 4:21.66 to break the US record of 4:23.98 set by Krissy Gear in April at the Grand Blue Mile in Des Moines. That time also moves him into second place on the all-time world record for the road mile, behind Ethiopia’s Diribe Velteji, who set a world record of 4:20.98 in 2023. It was also the fastest time ever in the US territory. “I was pleasantly surprised with what I ran,” said Johnson, who also set an American track record this season with a 4:16.32 at the Diamond League meet in London in July. “Part of my goal this year is to really try to be fearless in the race. And there’s no better place to apply that than a low road mile. So today I was fearless and it paid off.”
And it was only after the finish line that he turned around that he realized how convincing his victory was. “The last 200 fans (on the pitch) got really loud and I wasn’t sure if someone was coming up to me or if they were just cheering me on,” he said. Johnsonwho trains her fiance, Craig Novakin Portland, Oregon. “That last stretch I was just trying to go deep and give it everything I had.”
Nikki Hiltzwho was the overall winner of the Merrie Mile last year (after a 32-second start) and won their third straight USATF 1,500-meter title this summer, advanced from the women’s field to finish second overall in 4:24.50. On the men’s side, Hoy finished fastest in third place in 3:54.77, just ahead of Kenya’s Suzanne Ejor-Sanders (4:26.47), followed by Kessler (3:56.21).
“This (pursuit) format makes it a lot more intense,” said Hoy, who arrived in Hawaii a week ago with the world’s best indoor 600m (1:12.84) in Boston. “I mostly do distance training, so the 600 was kind of a fun experience and I was happy with how it went. But I’m really a miler, so I prefer this distance. I will definitely come back and do this race again.”
Johnson earned $10,000 for the overall win (up from last year’s $7,500 top prize). Hiltz takes home a $5,000 check as runner-up, while Hoy earned $3,000 for third, plus a $2,500 bonus as top man (since the woman was the overall winner). Ejore-Sanders ($1,500) and Kessler ($1,000) also won prize money.
Olympic bronze medalist Jared Nuguse (3:57.25), who was the overall Merrie Mile winner in 2022, finished third in the men’s race ahead of Kenya. Lagat festival (3:57.80) and in New Zealand Geordie Beamish (3:58.17), this year’s world champion in high jump.
Vani Kelati (4:29.83), who finished second here last year, finished fourth among the women just a week after winning the USA cross country title in the 10-K. of Japan Nozomi Tanaka (4:30.04) placed fifth.
Earlier in the morning, 2,854 participants took part in the citizens’ race, compared to 2,315 in 2,024. The men’s winner was Kaeo Cruz, a native of Kalaheo, Hawaii, who now lives in Boulder, Colorado, in 4:17.21. “Just being able to represent Hawaii and win a home race,” said Cruz, who competed at Harvard and the University of Virginia and was an elite triathlete. “These guys are good, they were pushing for it, so I just bided my time and waited for the right place to make my move. I’m pretty confident in my shot.”
Great Britain’s Holly Parker, who finished seventh in the 1,500 at this year’s British Championships, won the women’s division in 4:46.25 after only deciding to jump into the race a day earlier. “Better than a Friday workout,” he said with a laugh. “It was like a sprint. A mile on the road feels really hard, so I just ran the whole way.”
– – – – – – – –
TOMORROW’S RESULTS WEEKLY sponsored by RunCzech, organizers of the Prague Marathon and a number of iconic running events, including the Prague Half Marathon, part of the SuperHalfs and Italy’s fastest half marathon, the Napoli City Half Marathon. Learn more here runczech.com:.
FINISHING
