Jim Barahal
Dr. James S. (Jim) Barahal started running in college where he trained with the University of Michigan Cross Country Team during Medical School. He ran his first marathon, The Glass City Marathon, in 1973, ran three Boston Marathons, and ran the Honolulu Marathon – once, 1978 finishing in 2:45.
Jim joined the Honolulu Marathon Association (HMA) in 1984 as one of its vice-presidents and then became president and CEO of the HMA in 1987. As such, he has been involved with the Honolulu Marathon for 39 years and the HMA President for the past 36 years. He has carried on the traditions and objectives of the founders of the event in making it both a world-class sporting event and a popular fitness activity. Along with Dr. Jon Cross, Jim brought in elite African marathoners and world class professionals establishing the Honolulu Marathon as a Cradle of Champions. Nonetheless, in the spirit of the founders, it continues to be called “the people’s race” welcoming all to complete the marathon by keeping the finish line active until the last participant crosses.
With 34,434 entrants and 27,022 finishers, the 1995 Honolulu Marathon was the largest in the country. The economic impact for Hawaii is over $100 million annually spent by visitors during the marathon events. Until the Covid-19 pandemic, entrants topped 33,00 for six consecutive years. Under Jim’s leadership, the HMA has sponsored other running events in the state. Specifically, Jim created the Waikiki Play Mile (1983 – 1996), the Hapalua – Hawaii’s largest half marathon (2011), the Start to Park 10K (2018), the Kalakaua Merrie Mile (2016), and the King’s Runner 10K (2017), as well as sponsorship for the Hawaii High School Cross Country Championships for many years. In these events there were multiple sub-4-minute miles and state records at every distance.
Jim was also one of the state’s top competitors during the early 1980s. All of his PR’s were set in Hawaii: 5K – 15:04, 10K – 32:04, 15K – 49:37, and half marathon – 1:10:50. He was also a member of the Tantalus Gold relay teams of the 1980s.
The success of the Honolulu Marathon over the past 39 years has been well publicized and speaks for itself and its CEO. Jim was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jim and his wife Helena live in Kailua with their two dogs and a cat. Their three children Zach, Olivia, and Sebastian live in Los Angeles. Jim and Helena love to play golf, work out, and travel together.