KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii - Peter Reid of Canada was strong in the marathon and won the 25th Ironman Triathlon World Championship on Saturday.
The professional triathlete from Victoria finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run in 8 hours, 22 minutes, 34 seconds. It was his third Hawaii Ironman victory after winning in 1998 and 2000.
"I really, really hurt," Reid, 34, said after finishing. "I trained hard, saved my year for this race and it paid off."
Rutger Beke of Belgium was second in 8:28:26, and Cameron Brown of New Zealand was third in 8:30:07.
Reid took the lead just before the 10-mile mark of the run, passing Normann Stadler of Germany, who was first to finish the bike ride and had a 4-minute, 15-second lead going into the marathon.
Defending champion Tim DeBoom was second going into the run but dropped out at the 12-mile mark because of dehydration.
Lori Bowden of Canada, the 1999 champion who holds the women's record for the marathon in this event, had another strong run to win women's race in 9:11:55. Bowden, Reid's estranged wife, passed Nina Kraft midway through the run after Kraft regained the lead.
Kraft was the first woman to finish the bike ride, but three-time defending champion Natasha Badmann was first to start the run because Kraft had to serve a three-minute penalty. Light winds helped the athletes on the bicycle course, but conditions were humid for the run.
Jan Sibbersen, a former Olympic swimmer from Germany, was the first to finish the ocean swim in Kailua Bay in 46:50, six seconds off the 1995 record pace. He quickly fell behind in the bike ride.
Ranging from age 18 to 80, 1,647 athletes from 42 states and 42 countries were registered, including Gordon Haller, winner of the first Ironman race in 1978.
