Jonathan Lyau

hirunning on January 9, 2022

For more than forty years Jonathan Lyau has been one of Hawaii’s premier runners, from middle distances to the marathon. He started running in the 10^th grade (1979) as a McKinley High School cross country and track runner and in 1982 was the Hawaii State High School Track Champion in the 3200 meters.

Internationally, he has represented Hawaii at the Rotorua Marathon (New Zealand) in 1993, the Miura Half Marathon (Japan) from 1994-2004, and the Ichinoseki Half Marathon (Japan) in 2010.

Nationally, as a masters runner, Jonathan is a six-time All American:

2006 Track & Field All American 3000m 40-44 age group, Nationally Ranked #3
2006 Track & Field All American 5000m 40-44 age group, Nationally Ranked #3
2014 Track & Field All American 1500m 50-54 age group, Nationally Ranked #8
2015 Track & Field All American 1500m 50-54 age group, Nationally Ranked #12
2019 Track & Field All American 1500m 55-59 age group, Nationally Ranked #16
2019 Track & Field All American 1 Mile 55-59 age group, Nationally Ranked #5

Locally, he has won nearly every major road race in Hawaii including the Great Aloha Run (1994 and 2002) and the Norman Tamanaha 15k (five times). As for the Honolulu Marathon, Jonathan is a seventeen-time Kamaaina Champion from 1993-2004, 2006-2009, and in 2012. In 2009 he was inducted into the Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame. An outstanding achievement is the fact that Jonathan has run a sub three-hour Honolulu Marathon in five different decades of his life – from his teens into his fifties.

In 2020, Jonathan joined a unique group of runners who have logged over 100,000 running miles in their lifetimes. https://www.100klifetimemiles.com/2020/09/jonathan-lyau-reached-100000-miles-on.html

His personal records at various distances include:

800 meters 1:59.4
1500 meters 4:00.3
5 kilometers 15:07
4 miles 19:29
10 kilometers 31:56
15 kilometers 49:07
Half Marathon 1:09:06
Marathon 2:29:25

Jonathan has coached on the personal, group, and high school levels, his runners ranging from teens to seniors:

1994: Established Personal Best Training which helps runners with their running goals by providing a personalized run training program https://personalbesttraininghi.com/home-page
1995: McKinley High School Head Boys’ Cross Country Coach
1996-2013: Hawaii coach for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Marathon program.
2002-2011: Kamehameha Schools Assistant Track Coach (girls’ distance)
2015-2018: Renegades Track Youth Coach
2016-2020: Lanikai Juice Run Club Coach
2008-present: Iolani School Assistant Girls’ Cross Country Coach

Additionally, Jonathan has made many and varied contributions to the Hawaii running community:

Authored many newspaper articles pertaining to running
2014-present: Race director of annual Pearl Harbor 10k Run
2009-present: Founder and director of Aloha Cross Country Camp for 7-12^th graders https://www.alohacrosscountrycamp.com
Donated post event snacks to various local road races
Provided free weekly run group training (1994-present)
2011-present: Hapalua Half Marathon, Team Hawaii Chase coordinator
2016-present: Honolulu Marathon Race Staff

Jonathan is the owner and President of A.C. Lyau Company, LTD., a wholesale candy distribution company. He lives in Honolulu with his wife Kelli, a Kamehameha Schools math teacher and avid runner, daughter Sierra (18), and son Spencer (15).