Before the marathon has even started, the defending champion is already exhausted.

Patrick Ivuti arrived later than expected for tomorrow's Honolulu Marathon after a flight delay in Kenya. He was supposed to arrive Thursday but did not get in until yesterday morning after connecting flights in the Netherlands and Tokyo, spending a day in the air.

"Between now (and Sunday), I would like to just move around, just to relax my legs, jog a bit, acclimatize myself," Ivuti said.

His fellow Kenyans arrived at the beginning of the week and together, they comprise a talented field that could possibly shatter the race's course record. Four of them have ran under 2 hours, 10 minutes this year, and if conditions are right, the course record of 2:11:12 could be threatened.

"It is possible to run the course record," said Ivuti, who won last year in 2:14:35.

If the course record is to be shattered, Samuel Mwangi-Gichochi will likely have a big role in it.

The 26-year-old Kenyan is the pacesetter for the field and his role is to set the pace for a record-breaking mark. Mwangi wants them running at a 4:50, 4:55 per mile pace. He said if he paces well and the weather is cooperative (it rained during last year's race), "the chances are very high they will run under 2:10."

"The group of elite runners from Kenya, they are all very strong," said Mwangi, who stuck with Ivuti until the 16th mile last year. "At this time, it's hard to predict who will be the winner."

The men's champion gets $40,000 and an extra $10,000 bonus for breaking the record.

"This year is a bit competitive because I saw a list of the athletes and I can see the group is good," Ivuti said, who set a course record at the Prague (Czech Republic) Marathon in May with a time of 2:07:48.

Nicholas Chelimo Kipkoir is coming off a fifth-place finish at October's Amsterdam Marathon where he finished in 2:07:46 in the Netherlands.

Benson Kipchumba Cherono placed third at October's Venice Marathon in 2:10:13 in Italy and Joseph Nganga Maregu finished third in 2:09:25 at April's Vienna Marathon in Austria.

Running his first major race of the year is six-time champion Jimmy Muindi, the course record holder and Ivuti's brother-in-law. Muindi has finished every year since 1994 and won his first in 1999.

Muindi said he considers Hawai'i as his second home. On Thursday, he visited second graders at St. Andrew's Priory, then had lunch with the school's cross country team.