The duel for the Honolulu Marathon title was all but decided as Lawrence Cherono approached Diamond Head.

A run into history beckoned just beyond the final rise.

The 28-year-old Kenyan maintained his stride through the climb and descent into Kapiolani Park to win the 44th annual event while shattering the course record.

Part of a pack that pushed the tempo on a crisp Sunday morning, Cherono broke away from the other contenders in Kahala and crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 39 seconds, breaking the previous record of 2:11:12 set by Jimmy Muindi in 2004.

“Of course it’s not easy, it’s just a commitment to fight until the end,” Cherono said. “The record is so fantastic. I am so grateful to get this course record. It is a great achievement.”

On a relatively cool morning without much wind resistance, the pack of elite runners took the first mile in 4 minutes, 56 seconds and Cherono stayed on track from the 5 a.m. fireworks show on Ala Moana Boulevard through East Oahu and into the Waikiki finish, averaging a 4:57 pace over the 26.2-mile course.

“I was trying my best to put myself in good position and it led me to go and push the pace,” Cherono said after his second win of the year.

Wilson Chebet, the 2014 champion, stayed with Cherono for the first 22 miles and also came in under the previous record at 2:10:50 to post his second straight runner-up finish in Honolulu.

“The weather was nice and I came here to get the course record,” Chebet said. “The pace was smooth to me, all the way it was constant.”

Cherono’s victory extended the Honolulu Marathon’s streak of Kenyan winners to 10 with the country producing 20 of the last 21 champions.

The Kenyans were followed by Ethiopians Deribe Roba (2:13:43) and Feyisa Lelisa (2:15:57), the silver medalist at the Rio Olympics in August.

Cherono won the Prague Marathon in August with a personal best of 2:07:24 and his time on Sunday was the fourth fastest in the U.S. this year, trailing only the top two finishers in the New York City Marathon and the winner of the Twin Cities Marathon. He also passed both winning times at the Chicago and Boston Marathons while claiming the $40,000 first prize and a $15,000 bonus for breaking Muindi’s record.

The pack followed the early lead of designated pacesetter Festus Talam, who won the Eindhoven Marathon in October. Talam kept the pack on pace for a run at the record despite taking a spill at an aid station on the back side of Kapiolani Park. He recovered quickly and eventually stepped off the course, as planned, in the 19th mile, leaving Cherono, Chebet, Lelisa and Roba to contend for the title.

“The pace was good,” Cherono said of Talam’s role. “Maybe the pace can be a bit high for someone else, but it was comfortable to me.”

Cherono and Chebet traded surges along Kalanianaole Highway and Cherono made the decisive push after turning onto Kealaolu Avenue near Waialae Country Club.

“At the end I was trying to move, but he was strong,” said Chebet, who won the 2014 race in 2:15:35 and lowered his time each of the last two years while finishing second.

Having dropped the field, Cherono blew the record away in running the second half of the race faster than the first after hitting the midpoint in 1:05:01.

Lelisa said he didn’t have the preparation to keep up late in the race. But, as he did in Rio, Lelisa crossed his arms as he approached the finish line in protest of violence against his Oromo tribe in Ethiopia.

“Every race it’s about my people,” Lelisa said. “I have to show it everywhere.”