COEUR d'ALENE - Competing in Ironman Coeur d'Alene is certainly no picnic.

Just ask Andy Potts, who won his second Ironman Coeur d'Alene by winning Sunday and crossing the finish line on Sherman Avenue between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The 37-year-old professional triathlete who lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., won in 8 hours, 25 minutes, 44 seconds, extending a 2-minute, 30-second gap in the run to 3:26 with 2 miles left over three-time Ironman Coeur d'Alene champion Viktor Zyemtsev of Ukraine (8:28.32). Defending champion Ben Hoffman of Boulder, Colo., had to overcome a crash on the bicycle course to finish third (8:29.12). German Maik Twelsiek was fourth (8:34.19).

Heather Wurtele defended her women's title, winning for the third time overall. The triathlete from Victoria, British Columbia, won with an overall time of 9 hours, 34 minutes, 32 seconds.

Both the men's and women's winners receive $15,000. Ironman Coeur d'Alene has a total purse of $75,000.

Unlike last year's triathlon, when Hoffman led nearly the entire way, Potts had plenty of competition. He led coming out of the 2.4-mile swim in Lake Coeur d'Alene with a time of 47 minutes, 57 seconds, was second after

the bicycle leg and took the lead for good at the 6.5-mile mark by passing Twelsiek.

"I knew I had a lot of racing to do," Potts said. "I didn't put too much stock into it. It's nice to move into the lead, because then you can control things and you put more stress on other people ... I put up four 6-minute miles (toward the end) and opened up a bit of a cushion. It's super nice to win again, I really wanted to make it count."

Potts earned 5,000 points to go toward his Kona Pro Rankings, in which the top 50 men qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He is currently 11th in those standings.

"I was a little upset that Viktor was pushing so hard," Potts said. "But I knew that the last 10K (kilometers) in Kona is where champions are made. So when I made that turn here, all I was thinking about was, be a champion today and close like you want it. It's very sweet for sure, this is my 10th Ironman and there's no such thing as an easy one. This is the easiest one and the hardest one, ever. I'm thrilled."

The competitors followed the swim with a two-loop, 112-mile trek down U.S. 95 and out and back on Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive, followed by a two-loop, 26.2-mile marathon east on Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive and back through downtown.

Many of the competitors had to deal with headwinds going south on U.S. 95, ranging from roughly 10 to 12 miles an hour.

"It was so windy here," Potts said. "That's part of what makes Ironman so desirable because you have to earn it, no matter what. We had five Ironman (Coeur d'Alene) champions here in the field. It was a really happy day, for sure."

Potts enjoyed his fast start coming out of the swim portion of the triathlon.

"I was happy that the swim was over," Potts said. "You get a little lulled into a sense of self-confidence coming in (to the beach) because you come in with the waves ... it was really tough to get into a rhythm because of the chop. The first lap on the bike was super clean, I was able to ride my own pace. I could gauge where (the competitors) were. I was happiest on the bike and the second lap of the run was a lot better than the first."

Hoffman, who was bleeding a bit from his knee and nose from the accident, said the crash cost him at least 10 minutes.

"I crashed into the first lap," Hoffman said. "An age grouper got hit with a gust of wind and came in front of me and I ran up the back of him. And we both crashed and that caused a flat tire. I shredded my front tire. I fixed that with the shredded tire, because I had no option. There was nobody around, so the tube was exposed, so I rode it for 10 miles and there was a small rock that punctured it again. Then I got a new front wheel and that happened between maybe 90 and 95 miles. It was pretty disappointing. I gave it my all today, despite some unfortunate circumstances. All in all, I'm happy with certain parts of my race."

Hoffman described the challenges of defending an Ironman race title.

"Defending titles is tough. Especially when top guys show up. I really thought I had the form and the fitness to defend it and I think I showed that despite what happened, I'm happy with what I gave."

Zyemtsev acknowledged he didn't really have much of a serious shot at catching Potts during the final five miles of the run.

"After the first turnaround (during the run), I saw I was 2:30 behind Andy, it was understood it was tough (to catch him). I just thought, just get to the finish line. I'm not a great biker and after the bike, I understood it was possible to get to Maik for the second position."

For the second straight year at Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Wurtele had to overcome a flat tire on the bike course. Fortunately for her, it did not hurt her chances of winning.

"I got a flat tire again," Wurtele said. "That's my thing on this course. But I stayed calm and fixed it and I just kept rolling. That's always a bummer ... I don't know what it is with me not paying attention and hitting stuff on this course, but I'm getting better with changing those (tires) quickly. I was riding up a big hill and my rear tire totally blew up. I must have hit something and it sliced it and it exploded off the rim. So I took four or five minutes to fix it and I got back on."

Wurtele talked about the challenges of defending her title.

"It's fantastic," Wurtele said of defending her title. "It's challenging to come back to a race and win it again. The targets are on your back. There's a little bit of pressure there but I was confident coming in and was happy I could put it together. It was really windy, there was a choppy (opening swim), hard work on the bike. The times were slower; it was still a good race, but I'm happy to come away with a win."

After coming out of the swim in third place with a time of 59 minutes, 14 seconds behind Kelly Williamson (58.30) and Jessica Smith (59.12), Wurtele grabbed the lead for good early in the bicycle race. Wurtele expanded her lead on Smith with an overall time of 6:23.33.

Williamson finished second (9:50.07), followed by Smith, who came in third (9:58.42).

"I was really happy to be close to Kelly out of the water because she's a strong swimmer," Wurtele said. "I got the lead pretty early on and opened up a decent gap on the bike and managed to hold that on the run. I knew I had to open up a good lead on Kelly because she ran a 2:56 on the run in Texas recently. The girl can run, so I was a little nervous about that, but I had a great run as well, so she stayed the same distance behind me."

And Wurtele had the same result - champion.