The Honolulu Marathon's satellite race in Iraq has been rescheduled for Dec. 18, one week after the main event in Hawai'i.

Lt. Col. Jim O'Donnell, the Marine Corps officer organizing the Iraq race, yesterday said his group received approval to hold the race in mid-December.

He did not say why the timing of the satellite race was pushed back after initially being scheduled for the same day as its Hawai'i parent event.

But O'Donnell earlier told the Associated Press that the marathon date might be changed because of concerns about holding the event so close to the Iraqi national elections set for Thursday.

The Iraq race will be held at Camp Victory, the headquarters of the multinational corps, near Baghdad International Airport.

O'Donnell said earlier that entrants will run four laps around a 6.2-mile loop, plus an additional section, to complete the 26.2-mile distance.

U.S. troops may be the main runners, but the race will be open to anyone who has access to Camp Victory.

Marathon officials in Honolulu have sent entry forms, finisher T-shirts, medals, shell lei and a large finish-line banner to Iraq.

Michigan-based Burns Computer Service, which records finish times for the Honolulu race, sent timing mats and microchips so the satellite race could record times.

The Honolulu Marathon supported a similar satellite race in Afghanistan last year.

O'Donnell was assigned to Iraq a few weeks after he registered to run in this year's Honolulu Marathon.

He began studying whether he could organize a satellite race of marathon even before he arrived in the Middle East in August.

He has run five of the last six Honolulu Marathons.