Kona, Hawaii is filled with athletes over the Labor Day weekend to take part in the longest canoe race in the world. The Queen Lili’uokalani Canoe race was started in 1972 and now draws over 1500 competitors from around the world eager to show off their paddling skill. The race is named after Queen Lili’uokalani, the last reigning monarch of Hawai’I, and is held annually near her birthday (September 2, 1838).
The race starts at Kailua Kona pier on Saturday morning with the women paddling single hull canoes 18 miles from Kailua Bay to Honaunau. The men then paddle back the 18 miles to Kailua Bay. The Ironman divisions do the race with no changes while others teams substitute along the route. The open water substitutions are made from team members dropped in the water from escort vessels.
On Sunday, the double hull canoes paddle 6 miles south to Lyman’s beach and back as do the OC1 (one person) and OC2 (two people) racers. Stand-up paddleboard racers go 3 miles south to Casa de Emdeko and back.
This year a new race has been added, the Ali‘i Challenge, which takes place on Labor Day. The coed race will start off from Kailua Pier and go north to the finish at Kona Village Resort, approximately 17 ½ miles away. In each canoe 6 women will start the race and 6 men will replace them half way through the race.
The Saturday women's and men's races will be covered live on Kona FM 92.1 and Hilo 92.7.
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