Twelve years ago, Jimmy Muindi left his pregnant wife behind in Kenya to take part in his first Honolulu Marathon.

Yesterday, he celebrated his daughter Stella's 11th birthday with his record fifth win, this time in the presence of his family: wife Lucy, Stella, and son Kevin, 6.

"Having them here gave me a lot of morale," Muindi said of his family, which left Kenya for only the second time to come to Hawai'i.

Muindi, who set the course record last year in 2:11:12, finished the 33rd annual Honolulu Marathon in 2 hours, 12 minutes yesterday.

Mbarak Hussein, who became a U.S. citizen last year, finished second in 2:15:06, and Kenyan Eric Nzioki was third in 2:16:24 in his Honolulu Marathon debut.

The 26.2-mile race began at Ala Moana and the Queen Street extension, headed out to Hawai'i Kai and finished at Kapi'olani Park, with 24,261 of the 24,643 starters finishing the race. Temperatures began in the upper 60s, and by the time the elite runners finished, were in the lower 70s.

Muindi earned $15,000 for first-place, and another $5,000 time incentive for running 2:12:00. Hussein won $8,000 and Nzioki, 27, $5,000.

"Honolulu is like my second home," said Muindi, 32, running in his 12th event, also winning in 1999, 2000, 2003 and last year.

"We're happy about it," Lucy said. "We very well knew he would win because his training was so hard."

Muindi's training paid off, as he pushed the pace from the start. The main pack of 10 ran the first five miles on a near 5:02-minute pace, before a blistering 4:46 on the sixth mile dropped two of the runners.

"My intention was to set the course record," Muindi said.

The pack, which had dwindled to seven, began to spread out at the 12-mile mark, when Muindi pushed the pace to a 4:51 mile, earning a 30-yard cushion.

"I wasn't increasing my pace," he said. "I wasn't expecting the guys to drop. I knew not to reduce my pace."

He ran alone the rest of the way, a lonely 14 miles that might have disrupted his second-straight shot at the course record.

"It was very hard, knowing there was nothing to assess my pace," he said.

Behind him about 50 yards, Nzioki and Nicholus Muindi, Jimmy's younger brother, were battling for second place. But the veteran Hussein, who would eventually finish second, let them take off, dropping to the back of the pack.

"Jimmy made a little move," Hussein, originally from Kenya, said. "He usually does it about 17 or 18 miles. It caught us off guard a little bit. I decided to run, go easy. When he made a move, the other guys went with him. I realized the younger guys might pay for it later."

Hussein, 40, running in his 11th Honolulu Marathon, said his experience played a key role in his runner-up finish.

"I know Jimmy really well," he said. "I wanted to keep about a five-minute pace. I realized the only way I would catch him was if he ran into a wall."

Hussein said he could see Muindi and the pace truck in his sights, but saw the distance was too far to make up.

"It's certainly one of the biggest gaps in a long time," Honolulu Marathon president Dr. Jim Barahal said of the 3:06 time difference between Muindi and Hussein at the finish line.

Muindi said he realized the record would be out of reach with about two miles remaining, when Barahal told him he was 15 seconds off the mark. At the 16-mile mark he was ahead of his record time by 34 seconds, but said running by himself eventually hurt him.

Muindi also said the clock in the men's pace truck malfunctioned, and he couldn't assess his pace.

"I just canceled it," he said of his record-breaking chances. "I was kind of disappointed. I was running blindly."

Barahal said clocks are located around the course at the mile markers, but "I sure would have preferred if the pace-car clock was working properly."

He said Muindi's effort "showed what a champion he is. Mbarak also showed what a champion he is.

"(Muindi) is running at a level no one else is. We've been successful at keeping him coming back here. Our challenge is to find other people at his level to challenge him."

Muindi and Hussein, both 2003 Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame inductees, have won every Honolulu Marathon since 1998.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.