Ironman Triathlon : Scott Wins for 5th Time, Breaks Record

Dave Scott won his fifth Ironman Triathlon Saturday, shattering the course record set last year by his arch-rival, Scott Tinley.

Scott, 31, of Davis, Calif., finished the 140.6-mile endurance test in 8 hours 28 minutes 37 seconds, taking more than 20 minutes off Tinley’s 1985 record.

Scott not only regained his title and course record, he won $17,000, the first time prize money has been awarded in the competition’s 10-year history.

Mark Allen of Boulder, Colo., was second in 8:36:04.

Tinley, who won last year while Scott observed the race as a television commentator, was third. His time was 9:00:54, well off his own pace of 8:50:54 last year.

Patricia Puntous of Kelowna, Canada, was the first women to cross the finish line, with a time of 9:47:48. However, race officials later disqualified her for violation of drafting rules during the bicycle leg of the race.

The women’s title then went to Paula Newby-Fraser of Zimbabwe, whose time was 9:49:20, establishing a women’s mark.

Sylviane Puntous, Patricia’s twin, was second in 9:53:12. Defending champion Joanne Ernst of Palo Alto, Calif., was third in 10:00:06.

About 1,000 athletes began the race in calm waters at the pier in this coastal village on Hawaii Island’s Kona Coast.

Tinley moved up after a 28th-place finish in the 2.4-mile swim. Scott was third in the swim.

After the swim, the athletes took off on a 112-mile bicycle ride, followed by a 26.2-mile marathon run.

Brad Hinshaw of Saratoga, Calif., the first person out of the water in a record 47 minutes 38 seconds, dropped back during the bicycle portion of the event.

His brother, Chris, who was second in the swim, was two minutes behind Tinley at the end of the bike ride.

The bicycle ride took the competitors from the village through barren lava fields and rolling ranch lands to the turnaround at the village of Hawi, at the northeast tip of the island.

The bicycle phase of the competition ended and the marathon run began at the Keauhou Resort, several miles south of here.

The competitors, from 48 states and 36 countries, were required to finish the swim in 2 hours 15 minutes, the bicycle ride in an additional 8 hours 15 minutes and the entire race in 17 hours.

Ironman officials received nearly 4,000 applications and selected nearly 1,250.

The Ironman combines three of Hawaii’s most popular athletic events--the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around Oahu Bike Race and the Honolulu Marathon.

The race was moved from Oahu to Kona in 1981 to take advantage of less-congested highways.