KAILUA, KONA, Hawai'i — Germany's Faris Al-Sultan regained his lead early in the run and won the Ironman Triathlon World Championship yesterday.

His time was an unofficial 8 hours, 14 minutes, 16 seconds, the fourth-fastest finish for the race.

"This is incredible; I don't believe it," Al-Sultan said.

Prior to the race, Al-Sultan, a 27-year-old from Munich, said he just wanted to finish in the top five again. He was third last year.

Al-Sultan, who won the Arizona Ironman race earlier this year, led through most of the 112-mile bicycle ride, which took the athletes through barren lava fields and rolling ranchlands. Torbjorn Sindballe of Denmark took the lead at about the 100-mile mark, but Al-Sultan regained the lead between the second and third miles of the 26.2-mile run.

Sindballe, 28, faded and finished in 9:08:38 in 49th place.

Cameron Brown of New Zealand was second in 8:19:33, and three-time winner Peter Reid of Canada was third in 8:20:04.

Natascha Badmann of Switzerland came from behind to win her sixth women's title. Her time was 9:09:30.

Michellie Jones of Australia took the lead early in the bike race and had a lead of almost nine minutes going into the run. But after serving a four-minute penalty, Badmann dug in and caught her around the 16-mile mark of the run. Jones was second in 9:11:50. Kate Major of Australia was third in 9:12:39.

Unusually light winds allowed for fast times on the bike for the elite athletes. But clear, sunny skies created humid conditions for the run.

Hirokatsu Tayama, 23, of Japan, was first to finish the 2.4-mile swim but quickly fell behind on the bike. He finished in 29th place with a time of 8:51:58.

Defending champion Normann Stadler of Germany dropped out late in the bicycle ride after two flat tires.

More than 1,800 athletes from all 50 states and 51 countries, and from ages 19 to 80 were registered for the 140.6-mile endurance test.

Most of the sport's top professionals were vying for $580,000 in prize money. The first male and female each received $110,000. Al-Sultan and Jones also each received $10,000 in premiums.

The first Hawai'i finisher was Wil Yamamoto, 31, of Honolulu, who placed 153rd in 9:30:04.

Mark Geoghegan, 41, of Ho-nolulu, finished in 10:06:25. It was Geoghegan's second of three competitive triathlons on three successive weekends. He competed in the Triathlon World Championships on Oct. 9 in Ho-nolulu, and is entered in the X-terra World Championships on Oct. 23 on Maui.