KAILUA, KONA, Hawai'i — Craig Alexander of Sydney, Australia, rallied with a strong marathon run to win his first Ironman World Championship today.

Among the women, Britain's Chrissie Wellington won her second straight Hawaii Ironman title.

Alexander, who was last year's runner-up, is the first to win both the Ironman world championship and the Ironman 70.3 world titles. He finished today in 8 hours, 17 minutes, 45 seconds.

"I can't believe it. It was a hard race," Alexander said.

Eneko Llanos of Spain was second, 3:05 behind Alexander, followed by Belgium's Rutger Beke and Switzerland's Ronnie Schildknecht.

Honolulu's Timothy Marr was the top Hawai'i finisher, placing 16th in 8:48:50.

Alexander, 35, was in 11th place at the end of the 112-mile bicycle ride. But he ran a strong marathon and moved into the lead around the 18-mile mark of the 26.2-mile run.

Wellington regained the lead after being passed during a stop of more than 5 minutes to fix a flat tire. She finished in 9:06:23, almost 15 minutes ahead of Yvonne Van Vierken of Austria (9:21:20). Sandra Hannover of Germany was third and Erica Csomor of Hungary fourth.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever done," Wellington said. "It didn't go exactly to plan. I had a good swim and felt strong in the first phases of the bike."

She also thanked Rebekah Keat of Australia, who came to the rescue with a spare canister of air, saying, "She's a legend."

The competitors were challenged by gusty cross wind and heat during the ride through barren lava fields under bright, sunny conditions.

Defending champion Chris McCormack of Australia dropped out during the bike ride, about four hours into the race, due to a mechanical problem. He later said he had been told it would take 20 minutes to fix a snapped cable.

A total of 1,808 triathletes began the 30th anniversary race, a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run.

The professionals started the swim at 6:45 a.m., 15 minutes ahead of the age-group competitors. Two Navy SEALS started the swim by parachuting into the water.

The competitors ranged in age from 18-year-olds Tyler Foster and Ariel Henbest of the host city of Kailua-Kona to 79-year-old Loren Leonard of Hawthhorne, Calif. Seventy-two-year-old Harriet Anderson of San Carlos, Calif., was the oldest female competitor.

Luc Van Lierde of Belgium set the course record of 8:04:08 in 1996. Paula Newby-Fraser of Zimbabwe set the women's record of 8:55:28 in 1992.

____

On the Net:

Ironman Triathlon World Championship: www.ironman.com