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Steve Bayliss cruised over the finish line at Sherborne Castle in 8 hours, 53 minutes and 59 seconds. He beat the defending champion Scott Neyedli by more than 10 minutes, putting him into second place.

Less than an hour later, the first woman crossed the line Steve's fianc茅e Bella Comerford, who was the reigning women's champion. Her outstanding performance put her in 18th place overall and 49 minutes ahead of her nearest rival.听听听

140 mile race

The triathletes had put themselves through one of the most gruelling challenges in sport; a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle ride and a 26.2 mile running marathon.

Champions Bella Comerford and Steve Bayliss

They entered the cold and murky waters of the lake in the grounds of Sherborne Castle just after 6am on Sunday 7th September 2008.

After a delayed start, they swam two laps. They then ran out of the water and grabbed their bikes for three laps of gruelling cycling over the steep hills between Sherborne and Dorchester.

The distance travelled, 112 miles, was the equivalent of cycling from the race venue Sherborne Castle, to London.

The fastest athletes did the cycling sections in around five hours but many of the amateurs were still peddling when the elite racers had already finished. They had until 11pm before the race officials packed up for the night.

Race times down

The 2008 race times were down on previous years. Wet roads caused by heavy rain in the days leading up to the race, had slowed the bikes and made the marathon course particularly muddy.听

Athletes entered the lake before dawn

The day itself was dry and the mud failed to deter the thousands of spectators who stood by the side of the course hour upon hour to give their friends and relatives a morale boost as they either sped or limped by.

Some competitors never made it to the finish. Alison Boon, race owner said, "There will always be some people who withdraw. It鈥檚 an incredibly tough challenge and many find it tougher than they think."

Tough conditions听

The toughness was echoed by the winner Stephen Bayliss who admitted he found the going difficult at times.

"It's a really tough course here in the UK. I do a lot of ironmans all over the world and this is one of the toughest... The bike course is really hilly... and the run is really tough. It's part grass, parts on rocky, muddy paths and just up and down and up and down, lots of twisting and turning, yeah really tough."听听

Despite hours of assured hell, Ironman is growing in popularity every year. The entry level for 2008 had to be capped at 1250.

Competitors came from across the UK including 35 men and three women from Dorset. There was a strong international contingent too.

Cyclists passing through Alweston.

The fastest foreigner was Andreas di Bernado from Austria who came third and there were athletes from a host of countries including, Brazil, Netherlands, Germany and the USA who weren't far behind him.

The spirit of Ironman was summed up by Ed Hawkins, a teacher from the Yeovil based triathlon club, the Wessex Wizards.

He said,听 "To travel 140 miles in one day from your own steam is not something that everybody can do straight away but I believe that anybody can do Ironman if they put their mind to it and work towards it. What it proves is that with hard work and determination you can achieve anything."