Craig Alexander comes in as the first male in the Port of Tauranga Half. Photo/George Novak
Craig Alexander comes in as the first male in the Port of Tauranga Half. Photo/George Novak
Craig Alexander has not been back to race the Port of Tauranga Half since he won in 2005.
But the 41-year-old Australian, dubbed the King of Kona after his fifth World Ironman title win in Hawaii, rolled back the years with a consummate victory in Saturday's feature event of theMount Multisport Festival.
Alexander was the first elite male home in 3:48:02 with Braden Currie second (3:49:11) and 10-time champion Cameron Brown third (3:49:31).
Alexander's winning time was just six seconds outside the record set by Graham O'Grady.
This year organisers decided to move the transition area and finish line from Pilot Bay to Coronation Park in a controversial move. It meant Alexander has an extra bend to contend with and finished running on grass which certainly slowed him up.
Gina Crawford comes in as the first female in the Port of Tauranga Half. Photo/George Novak
But the genial Australian had no complaints after the race and was thrilled to win his second title.
"I really enjoyed it. It is a great place for the crowd to gather and it was a good atmosphere but it was tough day. The reason I came back was the run around the Mount.
"That is very unique and you rarely get something iconic like that on a course. The Tour de France they get to ride up the Champs Elysees and for me what I remember most is running around the Mount and how hard it was. It's one of the great features of the course, it's awesome."
Women's champion Gina Crawford repeated her 2013 victory in 4:22:05 and was delighted with her form in what is her off-season.
"It was a great hit out. I had a great swim and then a really good bike ride which was important because Michelle Bremer is a really strong cyclist. I was expecting her to catch me but I stayed ahead of her which was good.
"I haven't done any running off the bike in a couple of months so the first lap was quite painful on the legs and then I came right and really enjoyed the second loop."
