Kailua-Kona, Hawaii ? Australia’s Craig Alexander rallied Saturday to win the Ironman World Championship. The 35-year-old triathlete from Sydney completed the 140.6-mile endurance test in 8 hours, 17 minutes, 45 seconds.

He was 11th at the end of the 112-mile bicycle ride, but ran a strong marathon and moved into the lead around the 18-mile mark of the run. Alexander was second last year in his first Hawaii Ironman race.

Britain’s Chrissie Wellington won the women’s race and her third straight Hawaii Ironman title, finishing in 9:06:23.

Spain’s Eneko Llanos finished second among the men, followed by Belgium’s Rutger Beke, Switzerland’s Ronnie Schildknecht and Germany’s Timo Bracht.

The race began with a 2.4-mile ocean swim.