For the past two years, the intense competition between Kenyan Jimmy Muindi and Ethiopian Ambesse Tolossa in the Honolulu Marathon served as an athletic rekindling of a long-held rivalry between two African nations.

But with Tolossa serving a two-year ban from racing following his disqualification from last year's race for doping, Muindi now faces a budding rivalry much closer to home.

Muindi won his sixth Honolulu Marathon in nine years after Tolossa was disqualified as last year's winner. However, he'll face a stiff challenge in his attempt at No. 7 tomorrow from his brother-in-law Patrick Ivuti and a pack of up-and-coming fellow Kenyans, including 2008 Los Angeles Marathon winner Laban Moisen. Ethiopians Hailu Negussi, a former Boston Marathon winner, Halefom Abebe and Australian Andrew Letherby will also be in the hunt.

In the women's field, Russia's Alevtina Biktimirova returns to defend her 2007 crown. She'll also face daunting competition from old rival Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan and Alice Timbilili of Kenya, as well as three-time Honolulu winner Lyubov Morgunova and 2005 winner Olesya Nurgalieva, both also from Russia.

Former world record holder Margaret Okayo was scheduled to run but has pulled out due to illness.

Muindi, 35, has struggled mightily the past two years. He was unable to finish the Chicago and Rotterdam marathons in 2007, and fell behind Tolossa down the stretch of last year's Honolulu Marathon after suffering stomach cramps. Muindi also posted disappointing results in this year's Rotterdam Marathon and Gyeongju International Marathon in Korea.

Still, Muindi holds the Honolulu Marathon record of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 12 seconds (he set a personal best of 2:07:49 at Rotterdam in 2005) and he knows the course better than anyone in the field.

Ivuti, 30, is making his Honolulu debut tomorrow after a disappointing year in which he was forced to pull out of the Chicago Marathon due to a heel injury sustained during training.

Ivuti, who has only been competing in marathons for four years, has serious speed: He's recorded times of 27:56 in the 10K (Pittsburgh, 1999) and 59:27 in the half-marathon (Rotterdam, 2007). He also holds the Chicago Marathon course record of 2:07:46, set in 2005.

He spent two months this year training with Muindi, in sessions he laughingly described as "very competitive."

Both Ivuti and Muindi come from Machakos, Kenya, the same village that has spawned several world-class runners, including three-time Boston Marathon winner Cosmas Ndeti.

Muindi's 14-year love affair with the islands hasn't escaped his brother-in-law's notice.

"I have been longing to come here for two years," Ivuti said. "I have been asking my agent to send me here and this is the time. The time has come."

Ivuti said he is aware of the wind, rain and humidity that sometimes plague the race, but he said they won't be an obstacle to his goal of unseating Muindi as champion.

"It is a very big privilege to be here," he said. "Really, when you come for a race, you don't come to be No. 2. But anything can happen. You can't be sure until the last inch."

Ivuti, who runs more than 100 miles a week in training, typically lets the course determine his strategy. With Diamond Head looming at Mile 24, Ivuti could make a move early tomorrow.

"If there is a hill at the end, sometimes as athletes you try to push from the start," he said. "Sometimes it is better to start fast and cover the hill at the end."

Such strategy, however, has been the downfall of many a Muindi rival.

The Kenyan contingent also includes Moiben, 25, who posted a 2:13:50 finish in his Los Angeles victory, and Joseph Wambua Mutiso, 35, who finished second in the 2007 Dubai Marathon in 2:10:34, as well a few relative unknowns, including Stephen Mjorge Kinyanjui, Pius Muasa Mutuku and Samuel Mwangi Gichohi.

Biktimirova, 26, has had a solid year, with second-place finishes in Boston and Chicago. She set her personal best of 2:25:12 in the 2005 Frankfurt Marathon.

Biktimirova won last year's race in 2:33:06. She placed second at 2:29:42 the previous year, losing to Lyubov Denisova's course-record-setting 2:27:19. Denisova was banned from the sport a few months later for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, though her victory and record still stand.

Biktimirova's top opponent could be Shimahara of Japan.

The two have raced each other three three times. Shimahara, 32, passed Biktimirova down the stretch to take fifth place in the 2006 Boston Marathon. Biktimirova returned the favor this year, passing Shimahara on the way to her second-place finish in Chicago. The two are set to meet again in Tokyo next year.

"This is my third time against Biktimirova, so I've learned quite a bit about her," Shimahara said through an interpreter.

Shimahara, who regularly competes in half-marathon, 20K and 10K races, set a personal best of 2:26:14 at the 2005 Sapporo Marathon, one of four sub-2:30 finishes she has recorded.

Timbilili, the niece of African track star Nancy Lagat, is an accomplished 1000-, 3,000- and 5,000-meter runner who is considered a rising star in the marathon world. She placed fifth in a speedy Paris Marathon this year, finishing in 2:26:45.

At 37, Morgunova is showing no sign of slowing down.

Morgunova set a personal best of 2:25:12 at this year's Rotterdam Marathon. She was the Honolulu champion in 2000, 2001 and 2004.

Nurgalieva, 32, won the 2005 Honolulu Marathon in 2:30:24. She set a personal best this year with a 2:27:37 in Frankfurt.