SAN DIEGO -- Michael Simpson looked to be in complete control of the San Diego International Triathlon, right up until he was being stalked by a four-minute miler.

Chris Foster capped off a strong run by overcoming Simpson down the final stretch Sunday to win the 24th annual event with a time of 1 hour, 28 minutes, 38 seconds. The international-distance course included a 1,000-meter swim, 30-kilometer bike and 10K run.

Michellie Jones repeated as the women's champion, earning her 12th victory on the SDIT course in 1:37:58.

Simpson, of Vancouver, Canada, assumed the pro men's lead early in the bike and had a 50-second advantage heading into the run transition. His lead was still 50 seconds at Mile 3 of the 10K, but Foster had already passed Lewis Elliot for second place and was quickly gaining ground.

By Mile 5, Simpson's advantage was shaved to 15 seconds by Foster, a former track and cross country standout at Penn State who has a personal record of 4:01 for the indoor mile.

With the finish line at Embarcadero Marina Park nearly in sight, the lead was exchanged.

"I passed him with a half-mile to go," said Foster, 24. "I thought I was going to run out of real estate, but when I saw him turn around to check on me, I knew I had a chance."

Simpson, 24, was second in 1:29:02, and Elliot, last year's runner-up, was third in 1:31:14.

Like Foster, Simpson was competing in his first SDIT

"I cooked myself on the first part of the bike," Simpson said. "I was really feeling it on the second half."

Jones, 37, the Australian Olympian and longtime Carlsbad resident, continued her SDIT dominance while maintaining a busy schedule.

"I raced last weekend in Atlanta, and if this race would have been yesterday, I wouldn't have done so well," said Jones. "But I had a good training week, and you go with what you've got on any given day."

What Jones had Sunday was good enough to improve more than three minutes from her winning time last year of 1:41:14. Kathryn Donovan of Los Angeles made it a repeat of last year's 1-2 finish when she had her second straight runner-up finish in 1:44:07.

Rachel Challis, a mother of two from Carlsbad, placed third in 1:46:45.

The age-group top times belonged to David Myers of Newport Beach, who won the Men's 30-34 division in 1:35:03; and Erica McClurg of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Beatrix Blattmann of Edwards, who shared the women's best time of 1:49:45.

The sprint-course winners were Michael Stacy of Ramona (1:05:55) and Terry Martin-Duvel of Encinitas (1:10:13).

Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 735-8869 or rhoff@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.

SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL TRIATHLON

1K swim, 30K bike, 10K run Top Overall Pro Finishers

Male

1. Chris Foster (Venice) 1:28:39,

2. Michael Simpson

(Vancouver, B.C.) 1:29:02,

3. Lewis Elliot

(Scottsdale, Ariz.) 1:31:14,

4. Ian Pyott (Mission

Viejo) 1:32:49,

5. Caue Suplicy (San Diego) 1:32:51,

6. Patrick Baldwin (Del Mar) 1:34:21,

7. Peter Clode

(La Jolla) 1:36:03,

8. Felipe Loureiro (San Diego)

1:38:01,

9. Luke Walton (Poway) 1:38:19,

10. Emilio

DeSoto (La Jolla) 1:38:37.

Female

1. Michellie Jones (Carlsbad) 1:37:58,

2. Kathryn

Donovan (Los Angeles) 1:44:07,

3. Rachel Challis

(Carlsbad) 1:46:45,

4. Nicole Logan (San Diego)

1:50:18,

5. Misako Win (Carlsbad) 1:53:28.