Defending champ Chelimo welcomes challenge

Nicholas Chelimo rates the Honolulu Marathon as his favorite 26.2 miles.

And why not?

Chelimo finished second in his Honolulu debut in 2009, then followed with back-to-back victories, the latest coming when he edged Patrick Ivuti by 3 seconds last year in a sprint to the finish line.

"I was praying," Chelimo said of heading into Kapiolani Park stride-for-stride with Ivuti, "so this time I’m praying again. It’s not easy, but I’ll try my best."

Chelimo will likely need to be near his best to retain the title against a talented field joining him on the starting line on Ala Moana Boulevard in the dark of Sunday morning for the 40th Honolulu Marathon.

"Experience is good sometimes, but this time around I see it’s going to be competitive because there are big names," Chelimo said. "It makes it exciting and it makes the game very competitive."

The list of contenders to Chelimo’s title starts with Wilson Kipsang — currently the world’s top runner and the fastest man to enter a Honolulu Marathon — and includes first-time entrants Markos Geneti of Ethiopia and Abderrahima Bouramdane of Morocco.

Kipsang won the London Marathon in April and led the Olympic marathon in August before being caught and finishing with the bronze medal. Geneti completed the Dubai Marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 54 seconds in January.

Ivuti, a two-time Honolulu champion, returns, as does Nicholas Manza, who pushed the pace early in last year’s race before falling back in Hawaii Kai. Manza is coming off a fourth-place finish in Berlin in September in which he finished in 2:08:28.

"We always try to make the field better and better every year and I think we’ve done that again this year," Honolulu Marathon president Jim Barahal said.

The course record of 2:11:12 held by Jimmy Muindi since 2004 could fall on Sunday, given the right conditions. A winner crossing the line under record time would add a $15,000 bonus to the $40,000 first prize. There are additional $15,000 bonuses for times under 2:10 and 2:09.

"This is an opportunity also to see this marathon go to the next level of competition," said Muindi, who will run in his 20th race and is fine with another runner claiming the mark. "Hopefully the weather will be OK, less wind, less humid, and the record will be there. I’m ready to release it."

Woynishet Girma returns to defend her title in the women’s race a year after pulling away from fellow Ethiopian Misiker Mekonnin. Valentina Galomiva of Russia, last year’s third-place finisher, also returns. Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce will try to end a drought of U.S. winners in the race that stretches back to 1988.

The women’s race will also serve as a farewell to Russian Svetlana Zakharova, who was inducted into the Honolulu Marathon hall of fame on Thursday. She won here three times, most recently in 2009, and finished second in another six. Her 11th Honolulu Marathon is slated to be her last.

"Svetlana has been one of the great champions of Honolulu," Barahal said. "Just remarkable consistency and really represents the spirit of the race."

The elite runners will lead a field expected to be the race’s largest since 1997. Entries were forecast to top 31,000 on Friday, with more late signups still coming in.

The marathon last broke the 30,000 mark in 1997 (33,682), with 26,495 finishers. David Monti, editor of Race Results Weekly, said a Sunday turnout of more than 27,000 will likely be the second-largest marathon in the country this year behind Chicago. (This year’s New York City Marathon was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy.)

"We hope this is not just a 40th anniversary blip," Barahal said. "We’d like to make this the new baseline, we’d like to start from this number next year."