Comeback means some tough decisions for Cleaver

When Anna Cleaver left Auckland for Sydney six years ago, she was burned out and disillusioned with triathlon, keen to throw away the running shoes and embrace corporate life.
But a sensational comeback that was sealed with second in Saturday's Port of Tauranga Half has reignited the fire in the 29-year-old, to the point she's weighing up whether to chuck in a high-stress job in finance across the Tasman and go racing fulltime.
The former national under-23 Olympic distance triathlete led out of the water and for much of the bike but couldn't hold on over the final 2.5km of the run leg as a rampaging Jo Lawn, New Zealand's best female endurance athlete, mowed her down on the Mauao base track.
Lawn won for the third time (the first time since 2007) in 4:15.38, with Cleaver a minute back and Tauranga's Janine Simpson taking a surprise podium spot in third, a further six minutes back.
Far from despondent at being hunted down with the finish within reach, Cleaver said her effort had fuelled the fire that was reignited a year ago.
A breakthrough win in November at the Port Macquarie Half Ironman, including the quickest times in the swim and run sections, after a comeback at the Singapore 70.3 10 months ago, had fanned the embers.
"At Macquarie, and again here today, I got a feeling back that I haven't had for a very long time, confirming for me this is where the heart is."
Cleaver, a former national elite swimmer under Jan Cameron, moved to Sydney to do merchant banking, putting in 80-100 hour weeks before joining Telstra's finance department, where she specialises in mergers and acquisitions.
After eight years away from the sport sitting at a desk, a year ago she realised she missed triathlon "like crazy".
Cleaver was out of the water just behind the leading men on Saturday, was caught by little-known Aucklander Michelle Bremmer midway through the bike but carved out a sizeable lead of almost three minutes early on the run.
But Lawn's strength is her determination and, making a mockery of her pre-race prediction that Olympic distance specialists would have the edge, she methodically reeled Cleaver in.
"That first lap she had 2m 45s on me yet that first time around the Mount (base track) I took a whole minute out of her," Lawn said. "The second lap I pegged it back to 1min 30s, and then 20s by the time we hit the base track, and I assumed if I took a minute out of her there the last time I could do it again.
"There was no temptation to sit back and let her have it at any stage, it's not in my nature. I used my endurance base to wear her down, although hats off to Anna, she dug deep and laid it all on the line."
Cleaver was desperate to hang on but could sense Lawn closing as a cat-and-mouse routine developed around Mauao.
"That's Jo, an amazing athlete who came here deservedly race favourite and knows this course so well. I kept as much of a lead for as long as I could, was proud to hold her off for as long as I did on the bike and run and would have loved to have raced her right to the end. But I paid the price for going out and chasing it from the start and there was nothing left in the tank."
Lawn was shadowed home by husband and coach Armando Galarraga, who finished 26s behind, and, after a few days' rest, will re-set her sights on the Ironman New Zealand race in Taupo in March.
Cleaver has a few tough decisions to make and plans to have a chat with her boss in Sydney this week about how to combine job and training.
The charge from the Aussie armada never eventuated, with Rachel Paxton the best of the Ockers in fifth, nine minutes behind Lawn and just ahead of three-time winner Rebekah Keat. Sydney's Nicole Ward never featured, struggling home in 7th in 4:30.12, saying she felt "flat" the entire race.