RunPharmacist
한 EN 日
Partnership & sponsorship

Honolulu Marathon Challenge with RunPharmacist

A year of running together,
finishing in Honolulu.

Viewers of a Korean pharmacist's running channel form one team, train for a year, and run the Honolulu Marathon together every December. This is the story of Cohort 1 (2025) and Cohort 2 (2026).

Cohort 1 runners gathered under palm trees in Waikiki

The challenge

Not a tour package.
A year-long team project.

This is not a bundle of flights, hotel and race entry. Runners meet in spring and set goals, train together through summer and autumn, and finish together in Honolulu in December. RunPharmacist has finished the Honolulu Marathon three years in a row since 2023, and started this challenge to share that experience with the channel's viewers.

  • No limitsNo time limit, no age limit and no cap on entries, so everyone can reach the finish
  • Since 1973One of America's signature marathons, held for over 50 years
  • 20,000+finishers cross the line every year
Cohort 1 team photo on a Honolulu street at night
COHORT 1202530 started, 30 finished

Cohort 1 · 2025

30 runners started.
30 runners finished.

From a 10-year-old fourth grader to runners in their sixties, from people who had been running for less than a year to veterans of more than ten marathons. What they shared: they followed RunPharmacist and loved to run.

May–June 2025

Sold out four hours after the call went out

After a poll in the YouTube community, the recruiting video went live and every place was taken within four hours. The team registered as a group for the Honolulu Marathon and chose a travel partner.

July–November 2025

Five group training sessions

The first session was on Namsan in July, then monthly runs in Yeouido, Seoul, from August to November. Challengers from outside Seoul made the trip to run with the team.

Challengers running together on a riverside park path
Challengers running across a bridge before sunrise
Group photo after a training run

November 2025

A charity race and ₩2.85 million donated

Together with RunPharmacist's early-morning crew, Wake Up & Run, the team entered a charity marathon for the Beautiful Store (행복한가게). An online community for the trip opened the same month.

Tents and runners at the charity marathon

December 7–8, 2025

A message from an Olympic champion, and a team singlet

Hwang Young-cho, 1992 Barcelona Olympic marathon gold medalist, sent the challengers a message of support and a signed cap. The team held a final online meeting and confirmed the design of the singlet they would race in.

The 2025 Honolulu Marathon Challenge team singlet and Hwang Young-cho's signed cap

December 12–18, 2025

A week in Honolulu

The team flew out together, loosened up with easy runs along the beach and watched the Hawaiian sunrise as one group. A challenger living abroad joined the team on the island.

Team photo in front of Leonard's Bakery, Honolulu
Challengers on an easy run along the beach before race day
Challengers watching the sunrise on Waikiki Beach

December 14, 2025

Race day. Nobody dropped out.

Starting in the pre-dawn dark, all 25 marathoners and all 5 10K runners crossed the finish line. The youngest challenger, a fourth grader, and the oldest, in their sixties, both completed the full marathon.

Runners on the Honolulu Marathon course
Challengers before the pre-dawn start
30 / 30finished (100%)
Age 10 – 60syoungest and oldest both ran the full marathon
100,000+views on RunPharmacist's channel in the 10 days after the race

After the finish

A night to celebrate every finish

That evening the whole team gathered to celebrate. A year later, Cohort 1 still cheers on each other's next races.

Group photo at the finisher celebration
Finisher dinner

What the challenge meant to them

  • “It was my first love.”Cohort 1 challenger
  • “The starting point that made me think I could actually enjoy this.”Cohort 1 challenger
  • “The reason I started running for real.”Cohort 1 challenger
  • “It feels like a dream came true.”Cohort 1 challenger
  • “The most meaningful gift I have ever received from Santa Claus.”Cohort 1 challenger

Watch Cohort 1 on YouTube · Honolulu Marathon 2025, 5 episodes (Korean)

Brands that believed in Cohort 1

  • amino VITAL
  • Yuhan
  • Decathlon
  • Biofreeze
  • KT TAPE
  • Just Run Eat
  • Medi Heally
Cohort 2 with the team flag and the Lotte JTB banner at the Seoul session
COHORT 2202675 runners, group training in six cities

Cohort 2 · 2026 · In progress

75 runners in 24 hours,
training across Korea

Recruiting opened on March 23, 2026 and closed within a day. Cohort 2 didn't just meet in Seoul: every month the group training moved to a different city, so challengers outside the capital could run with the team close to home. One in five Cohort 1 challengers came back.

Cohort 2 training map

  1. May · Seoul
  2. June · Incheon
  3. July · Daegu
  4. August · Suwon
  5. September · Cheonan
  6. October · Chuncheon
  7. October · Hamkke Run
  8. November · Namsan, Seoul
  9. December · Honolulu
  • Runners attempting their first marathon and first race abroad
  • People who started running in their 40s and 50s and found a second life
  • Parents in their 60s with children in their 30s, and parents in their 40s with teenagers
  • Newlyweds who postponed their honeymoon, and a couple married 25 years running side by side
  • About 80% full marathon, 20% 10K
Parents and children running together on a forest path, Cohort 2

May 2026

Starting in Seoul

The first Cohort 2 session was held in Seoul, where challengers met for the first time, shared their goals and became one team.

Cohort 2 running along the Han River, with a young challenger in front
Cohort 2 running in a line through a Han River park
Cohort 2 running together on the riverside track
Cohort 2 running between the towers of Yeouido

June 2026

Incheon

The second session moved to the coastal city of Incheon.

Cohort 2 with the team flag and banner in Incheon
Cohort 2 running on a park track in Incheon

July 2026

Daegu

Midsummer in Daegu: training in the heat in front of the stadium.

Cohort 2 group photo in front of the stadium in Daegu
Challengers running together in Daegu

August 2026

Suwon

Long runs around a lakeside park to build distance.

Cohort 2 with the banner at a lakeside park in Suwon
Challengers on a forest path in Suwon

September 2026

Cheonan

Family challengers and young runners joined the forest run.

Cohort 2 with the flag and banner in Cheonan
Family challengers running on a forest path in Cheonan

October 2026

Chuncheon

A lakeside run along Uiam Lake, ending with arms raised in front of the autumn water.

Cohort 2 on a lakeside deck in Chuncheon
Challengers with arms raised at the Uiam Lake sign in Chuncheon
Challengers running along the lake in Chuncheon

October 2026

Hamkke Run Festival: Cohort 2's first race as a team

At the invitation of the Jinsun Foundation (진선재단), Cohort 2 entered the Hamkke Run (Run Together) Festival, where people of every age, gender and ability run side by side. The team gathered under one tent with RunPharmacist's early-morning crew, Wake Up & Run, warmed up together and lined up at the same start.

Cohort 2 wearing race bibs at the Hamkke Run Festival, gathered by the lake
Row of team tents at the Hamkke Run Festival
Challengers chatting under the tent before the start
Challengers warming up together before the start

November 2026

Namsan, Seoul: the last session before Honolulu

With autumn colors and one month to go, the team met once more on Namsan in Seoul, where Cohort 1 had held its very first session.

Cohort 2 group photo at a traditional gate in November
Cohort 2 challengers on a flight of steps in November
Honolulu Marathon, December 13, 2026 On the island December 11–17 · Results and photos will be added here after the race.

2026 partners of Cohort 2

  • La Roche-PosayLa Roche-PosayOfficial skincare sponsor
  • DecathlonDecathlonOfficial apparel sponsor
  • amino VITALamino VITALOfficial conditioning sponsor
  • Lotte JTBLotte JTBOfficial travel partner

Get involved

Next December,
run with us?

Become a partner

The challenge is a community of healthy runners in their 30s to 50s, and their families, who prepare together for a full year. We welcome sponsorship, co-created programs and partnerships in Hawaii.

  • Cohort 1: 30 runners, 100% finished · Cohort 2: 75 runners, filled in 24 hours
  • About eight months of YouTube and Instagram exposure, from recruiting to recap videos
  • Training and race stories shared by the challengers themselves
  • Health and running content led by a licensed pharmacist
[email protected] Instagram

Want to join Cohort 3?

Cohort 3 will be recruited on RunPharmacist's YouTube channel in the first half of 2027. The program is run in Korean. Cohort 1 filled in four hours and Cohort 2 in 24 hours.

Get notified → YouTube channel
Can I join from outside Korea?

Yes. A challenger from New York joined Cohort 1. Group training in Seoul isn't possible from abroad, but you stay connected through the group chat and run the shakeout and the race with the team in Honolulu.

Can my family come?

Of course. Couples, mothers and daughters, and parents with sons all took part. Family members can run too, or simply cheer and enjoy Hawaii.

Is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. The Honolulu Marathon has no time limit, and you have a full year to prepare. Runners with less than a year of experience finished in Cohort 1.

← RunPharmacist home