John Marshall, 39, of Miami finished the Ford Ironman World Championship Triathlon on Oct. 10 in Kona, Hawaii. It marked his second time competing and completing the most prestigious ironman.

``The race was one of the toughest Ironman races I have ever competed in, including when I raced in Kona in 2006,'' he said via e-mail. ``It was one of the hottest days on record in recent years for the race, and it was all about hanging on and getting across the finish line.''

Competing in 95-degree weather, Marshall crossed that finish line, covering the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in 11 hours and 35 minutes.

``On top of tough race conditions, I did not have my best race-day performance,'' he said. ``I came out of the water with a little slower [time] than usual swim, but I was not that far off.

``On the bike is where it started to unravel. At about mile 30 on the bike, I lost any power that I usually have and had to settle into what I would consider a pedestrian pace. I was mentally still in the race, thinking that I would get off the bike and have the run of my life and make up any time that I lost on the bike.

``About five miles into the run, I realized that with the heat there was no way I would set any PRs on the run, and by the looks of the faces of my competitors, it was not happening for them either.''

Marshall's 11:35 was not close to his best 9:47.

``I was [still] satisfied since one of the toughest things is to actually get to Kona, as only 1,600 athletes from all over the world can qualify to get there,'' he said.

The race featured 1,800 combatants. Of those, 200 (150 national and 50 international) won a spot via lottery. Marshall qualified for Kona at the Ironman Coeur d' Alene in June in Idaho.

Marshall, who will vie for another opportunity at Kona, will also attempt to qualify for the Ironman Germany in July in Frankfurt.

After the race, Marshall and his family spent a week in Maui for some well deserved vacation time.

• Mark Bennington, 52, of Coral Gables was very disappointed because he could not participate in the Ironman.

Bennington was chosen to compete from nearly 7,000 who entered the lottery. His good luck took a turn for the worse a couple of weeks before the big race.

``On one of my last training rides at Key Biscayne on Sept. 24, I crashed on my bike, hitting a surveyor's tripod that was left unattended in the bike path by some contractors, and I broke my collarbone,'' Bennington said in an e-mail. ``One of the biggest disappointments of my life because they don't allow deferrals to a future race.''

It was to be his Kona ironman debut.