From Cowman to firemen, the thousands who participated in the Hawaiian Telcom Great Aloha Run included an eclectic array of walkers, joggers and cartwheelers, almost all crossing the finish line with smiles on their faces.

"You can go as fast as you want or as slow as you want, but we all meet here at the finish line. We're all 'ohana here," said the 61-year-old runner who goes by the moniker Cowman A-Moo-Ha.

The 8.15-mile route began yesterday morning at Aloha Tower, snaked through downtown to Nimitz to Kamehameha and finished at Aloha Stadium. The 22,330 registered participants, ranging in age from 6 to into the 80s, competed in categories from the elite level to people pushing strollers. The mass of humanity also included about 4,800 in the Sounds of Freedom category, a military division in which groups run and chant while in formation. An estimated 20,000 participants completed the course.

A-Moo-Ha, who uses only that name for races, wore a 5-pound head garment with horns and shirt that read "World Peace Thru Running." He said he participates because of "the good people you meet from all over the world. The main thing is there's a lot of good charities our money goes to."

Some of those charities include Catholic Charities Hawai'i, Multiple Sclerosis, the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association and United Cerebral Palsy Association's Child Development Center.

A-Moo-Ha wasn't the only participant exuding the Aloha Spirit. Five women — Lisa Hersant, Lynn Gauthier, Gina Purvis, Tracy Woodrow and Chrissy Heisler — each wore letters that spelled out "A-L-O-H-A" on their shirts.

"We wanted everyone to scream, 'Aloha!' at us," Hersant said. "We decided we needed a theme. It was very difficult for us to stay together. Once we got separated, and it was just the A and the L. One guy yelled out 'Alaska' to us. Now I realize 'AL' is really Alabama."

Purvis added: "The two A's (Hersant and Heisler) have a lot of spirit and motivated us."

Others found different reasons to finish.

Recruit Brian Rocheleau, a member of the 89th recruit class of the Honolulu Fire Department, said, "We have a little rivalry going with our training captains."

He was one of 45 — 44 males and one female — in the recruit class competing against six recruit training officers.

Capt. Jay Kemmler said: "It's a little friendly competition. I think they had the fastest individual times, but we have the best average."

Even the nonrunners were inspired.

Volunteers Carol Savaiinaea, her daughter Monica, and friend Cierra Tadao removed time chips from the runners' shoes after the race.

"It's all ages, all walks of life," Carol Savaiinaea said. "That inspired me. I'm going to run it next year. I'm going to do it for the experience. It's awesome."

Monica Savaiinaea said she would join her mother in next year's race because "it looks cool; it looks fun."

The trio were volunteering as part of a social studies community service project for Pearl City High School, where Monica Savaiinaea and Tadao are juniors and Carol Savaiinaea is an educational assistant.

"It's worth your grade," said Tadao, who said he will have to write a paper on his experience. "You get to meet a lot of people."

Near the trio, Maj. Don Borchelt, 36, of the Pacific Air Force, waited with his two children, Brady, 2, and Addison, 5, in the finish area for wife and mother Renee. Borchelt pushed the children through the race in a jogging stroller, and said the hardest part was "not running into anybody, and trying to stay out of their way. They were fine. (Brady) slept for about half the time."

It made for energetic children at the finish, and Borchelt kept busy by chasing them around.

"We should have let them run it and push me," he said.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.