Photos: 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship

After exiting the water in 1:01:03, Chrissie Wellington had a big gap to make up on the bike. She continued to lose time to leader Julie Dibens throughout the ride, at one point being 22 minutes behind. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Around 1750 age group athletes took off at 7 a.m., 30 minutes after the pros. The conditions looked a little choppy but without as much swell as there had been earlier in the week. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Mathias Hecht, Marino Vanhoenacker and Craig Alexander exited the water together in just under 52 minutes, followed closely by top women Amanda Stevens and Julie Dibens. Per usual, Andy Potts exited the water first in 49:10. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Rachel Joyce (in Abu Dhabi kit) leads Leanda Cave out to chase the lead pack of women, followed by Japan's Hiroyuki Nishiuchi out of T1. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Julie Dibens threw down an impressive 4:44 bike split, which is an average of 24 mph for the 112 miles. Had she finished the race, she would've broken the previous course record. Photo: Nils Nilsen

The heat and wind pick up as German Timo Bracht heads out to the Hawi turnaround. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Rocking his signature outfit, Germany's Faris Al-Sultan stayed close to the leaders for most of the ride and entered T2 in the top 10. Photo: Nils Nilsen

An accidental bump into Matty Reed in T1 left Andreas Raelert with a black eye that created a partial shadow during the ride. Raelert got off the bike about three minutes down from Craig Alexander. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Crowie dons a sparkley gold RoadID helmet on his brand new Specialized Shiv, a bike which he only road for about two weeks before racing on it. Alexander's impressive bike split (4:24:05, a 13-minute PR) proved he did his homework from last year. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Rasmus Henning gets ready to pass Luke Bell. Photo: Nils Nilsen

The cycling hammer Chris Lieto led the pack as suspected. His 4:18:31 just missed the course bike record by only eight seconds, originally set by Normann Stadler, who was watching from the sidelines. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Eneko Llanos was a dark horse favorite to many but was spotted walking through T2 and dropping out of the race. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Last year's runner-up Caroline Steffan couldn't match Dibens' speed, but she got off the bike 11 minutes down and still ahead of Chrissie Wellington. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Craig Alexander passed Chris Lieto right after the six-mile mark, his run form looking super smooth. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Chris Lieto struggled in the heat during the run and ended up walking throughout portions of the marathon. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Defending champion Mirinda Carfrae had to work her way through the field after coming off the bike in eighth. Her record-setting marathon of 2:52:09 got her up to second place but wasn't enough to catch Chrissie. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Fourth place made Luxembourg's Dirk Bockel a happy guy. Photo: Nils Nilsen

The pavement had a supposed 135º heat index day of the race. Here, Frederik Van Lierde tries to keep cool with his kit rolled up. Photo: Nils Nilsen

American Andy Potts raced October 2 at the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon and followed that up with Ironman Hawaii on October 9. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Crowie dealt with cramping along the way after running out of salt tablets. "The race got tough. Andy [Raelert] put pressure on me and made me run quicker. I knew I had three minutes on him, but I didn't want to give that up easily. I thought I'm all in, and I wasn't going to give up that gap easily. He took me out of my comfort zone." Photo: Nils Nilsen

"To be honest, getting beat last year hurt me a lot. Not because I got beaten but because I had a good race and got beaten and beat up; I think what was really rewarding was that I sat there with all the people around me and said, 'I have to improve.' And I think you saw the fruits of 12 months of labor and planning today." Photo: Nils Nilsen

"It all started with a dream many years ago. To be honest, the performance is the kind you dream of and it's the motivation that gets you out the door to train," Alexander said after breaking the Ironman world record. "Breaking the record is totally humbling. You race to be the best athlete you can be, and if you make history along the way, that's awesome. I can't believe it, it hasn't sunk in." Photo: Nils Nilsen

After he crossed the finish line, Alexander dropped to the ground to hold a cramp in his leg before being met by his family and eventually going to the medical tent. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Fellow Aussie Pete Jacobs took second place with the fastest run split of the day (2:42:29). "I came here thinking I had a chance to win, but out on the bike I wasn't having a great day, the legs just weren't there," Jacobs says. "I was writing my excuses on the way back to my family and friends. I was imagining what I would tell them, 'It just wasn't my day.' So to run up into second, I just couldn't believe it." Photo: Nils Nilsen

A lot of the competitors collapsed to the ground at the finish, given the no-shade steamy day that made for one hot marathon. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Even after racing a week before, Potts made it in to the top 20 with a 17th-place finish. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Chrissie Wellington's win was her most impressive to date, coming from behind to regain her title. At the finish line she told the crowd, "This race means more to me than anything. It's the sweetest victory." I just proved that anything is possible." Photo: Nils Nilsen

Wellington was greeted by her boyfriend Tom Lowe, a first-time Kona competitor who was pleased with his 11th place finish. Photo: Nils Nilsen

K-Swiss teammates Mirinda Carfrae and Leanda Cave, second and third place, respectively, are both coached by Siri Lindley. Photo: Nils Nilsen

Despite missing the finish cutoff by 4 seconds, Nancy was cheered for her accomplishments on the day. As Mike Reilly put it, "You are an Ironman in our hearts." Photo: Nils Nilsen