For Honolulu Marathon organizers, peace and quiet today will include the relaxing strains of starting line fireworks, the pitter-patter of 23,000 pairs of feet and the lilting "gambatte!" screeches of a few thousand Japanese tourists.

Indeed, after the cacophonous events of the past couple of years — the post-race banning of 2006 women's champion Lyubov Denisova for doping, the disqualification of 2007 men's winner Ambesse Tolossa also for doping, and the massive timing failure that affected more than 20,000 of last year's participants — the mundane madness of one of the world's largest marathons would be just dandy.

The big question for the 5 a.m. start this morning is whether the weather will cooperate.

The National Weather Service predicts only scattered showers, and if that's the case, Honolulu Marathon Association president Jim Barahal will take it.

"As always, we're just hoping for a safe race and good running conditions," he said. "If it rains a little, it's not a big deal, and it might even be a good thing. That's better than hot sun."

The situation is certainly better than last year, when a week of heavy rains had the route partially underwater before the race even began, and may have contributed to the system failures that resulted in timing errors for all but 1,798 of the 23,299 finishers.

The timing issue has already been addressed, as the SAI Timing and Tracking system introduced last year has been dumped in favor of the tried-and-true ChampionChip system the marathon used successfully from 2000 to 2006.

Following Tolossa's disqualification and subsequent two-year ban, aspiring champions should also be acutely aware of the marathon association's self-funded mandatory drug testing program.

Barahal instituted the program last year in response to the Denisova case, which occurred after the race.

The top two men's and women's finishers are tested immediately after the race, as is one randomly selected top 10 male and female finisher.

(The association also showed good timing in 2006 when it introduced portable defibrilators at key points along the course. That year, Japanese runner Koji Takano collapsed at the finish line from an apparent heart failure, but was revived by one of the devices.)

"Unexpected things always come up, but hopefully there are no more surprises this year," Barahal said.

Free from distraction, marathon observers could be in for compelling races on both the men's and women's sides.

Kenyan Jimmy Muindi is gunning for his seventh Honolulu Marathon crown in 10 years, but will be hard pressed to hold off his brother-in-law, Patrick Ivuti, winner of the 2007 Chicago Marathon, and a deep field of rising African runners.

In the women's field, Alevtina Biktimirova returns to defend her 2007 championship against a stacked field that includes Japanese runner Kiyoko Shimahara (who finished just behind Biktimirova in this year's Chicago Marathon), up-and-coming Kenyan Alice Timbilili, and former Honolulu Marathon champions Lyubov Morgunova (2000, 2001, 2004) and Olesya Nurgalieva (2005). Former world record holder Margaret Okayo was scheduled to run, but has pulled out due to illness.

Marathon officials announced that 23,230 had entered the race, including 14,406 from Japan.

Last year, 27,827 runners entered, including an estimated 17,000 from Japan.

Barahal said the drop-off was due in part to a one-time "re-adjustment." The association shortened the early entry period for local runners and raised the price, effectively eliminating an estimated 2,000 people who enter but do not run the race, Barahal said.

Barahal said the drop-off in Japanese runners was not anticipated, but is not likely a trend. He said the marathon's primary sponsor, Japan Air Lines, intends to increase its marketing efforts for the marathon next year to take advantage of a stronger yen and a growing Japanese interest in distance running.

Barahal said Mainland entries continue to drop due to the cost of traveling to Hawai'i and the lingering economic downturn, which has made it more difficult for runners affiliated with charity groups — the single largest population of Mainland participants — to raise the pledges necessary to participate.