Honolulu’s Timothy Marr once again mastered the Tinman Triathlon, but he won’t take on the sport’s ultimate challenge until next year.

For him, the Ironman Triathlon can wait.

Marr won the 31st edition of the Tinman Triathlon on Sunday, finishing in 1:44:30. It was his fifth event victory in six years.

Honolulu’s Rachel Ross was the top female finisher and came in eighth overall, finishing in 1:56:07. She has won the event three times.

The race course consisted of a 750-meter swim at Queen’s Beach, 40K bike from Kapiolani Park to Hawaii Kai and back, and 10K run from Kapiolani Park around Diamond Head.

"I feel good. It was tough," Marr said. "This race is always hard with the hills and wind. It’s a short race, only an hour and 44 minutes, but it’s challenging the whole time. Your heart rate’s high and you’re hurting the whole time out there. It’s a lot of fun."

Marr, 32, said he’s not trying to qualify for the Ironman Triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) on the Big Island on Oct. 8, but will attempt it next year.

"My whole goal is 2012. I want to represent Hawaii on the biggest stage," Marr said. "The prime age for an Ironman athlete is between 32 and 36, so the whole goal the next few years is to have a good Ironman, win one international (triathlon) and try to be in the top 10 in the Ironman Hawaii."

Honolulu’s John Flanagan finished second in 1:47:48 and Honolulu’s Mark Geoghegan came in third in 1:52.36.

Marr said he was happy to get out of the water about 35 seconds behind Flanagan, a former Auburn University and long-time USA Swimming national open-water competitor.

"Having that small of a gap for me is good news," said Marr, who added that Flanagan "is literally the fastest swimmer in the sport of triathlon."

Marr quickly passed Flanagan on the bike.

"He caught me quite early on the bike going up Diamond Head," Flanagan said. "He had a solid race."

Flanagan, 36, won the Tinman in 2009, with Marr finishing runner-up.

"It’s a great feeling of accomplishment," said Flanagan, who was competing in the event for the third time. "The hard part is getting up early. This race starts before 6 o’clock. It’s tough to get going in the morning and set the alarm at 4 a.m. Just putting in that hard effort, it just feels so good to get so much in and it’s not even 8 o’clock yet."

Ross, 34, also was the women’s winner in 2006 and 2009. She didn’t compete in last year’s Tinman because of illness.

Natalia Kravchuk, of Honolulu but originally from Ukraine, finished second (23rd overall) in 2:02:23, and Kaneohe’s Sandra Ferreira crossed third (33rd overall) in 2:06:42.

"I’m usually a little behind on the swim, but I came out with the leader, Natalia," Ross said. "I was really excited. I knew I was off to a good start. It was a really nice day for the bike. It wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t too windy, so it was a fast bike course."

Ross gained 5 minutes, 15 seconds on Kravchuk on the bike.

"I need to work on my bike," Kravchuk said. "The run was pretty good, but I have to work harder on my bike. I’ll get there, I’ll get there."

Ross enjoyed the privilege of being in the lead.

"It was nice to have a police escort the whole way. It makes you feel safe," she said.

As for finishing eighth overall, Ross said: "It’s nice to be in with the boys. A couple passed me on the run and I used them to make me run a little faster."

Five hundred sixty-six individuals and 27 relay teams completed the event.

The race was originally scheduled for July 24, but was pushed back to Sunday because of an expected box jellyfish invasion.