KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii -- Canada's Lionel Sanders finished second in the world Ironman championship on Saturday.

The Harrow, Ont., native completed the course in eight hours four minutes seven seconds. Patrick Lange of Germany won the event in 8:01:40.

Sanders finished the 3.86-kilometre ocean swim in 53:41 before gaining ground with a solid 180K bike ride of 4:14:19.

The 29-year-old then ran the 42K marathon portion of the event in 2:51:53.

The top 10 finishers in the men's and women's races split the world championship prize purse of US$650,000.

Victoria's Brent McMahon retired from the race during the biking portion. According to an Instagram post, he was stung by a box jellyfish during the swim.

Both Sanders and McMahon were competing in the world championship for a third straight year.

The Hawaiian birthplace of Ironman racing held its first race in 1978.