RACE LEGEND: Cameron Brown has made the Port of Tauranga Half his own with 10 victories. PHOTO: FILE
RACE LEGEND: Cameron Brown has made the Port of Tauranga Half his own with 10 victories. PHOTO: FILE
What began as the pipe dream of local multisport athlete Troy Griffin in 1990 has become the most important event on the Western Bay sporting calendar.
This Saturday the 28th version of the Port of Tauranga Half begins at 6.15am, with the elite field taking on the 2km swim atPilot Bay, 90km bike leg and 21.1km run, including two circuits around the base track of Mauao.
They are followed by over-45s and a large contingent of teams competing.
Griffin, an original member of what merged into Triathlon Tauranga, took his idea to Bruce Trask who had recently established the Bay of Plenty Sports Foundation that later became Sport Bay of Plenty.
Trask and his partner Iris ran the first two events and became the driving force of the Port of Tauranga Half for decades.
Aucklander Cameron Brown won for the first time in 1998 and for a while he seemed unbeatable. He claimed seven straight titles from 1998-2004 before world class Australian Craig Alexander won the first of his two titles to break the sequence.
Brown triumphed again in 2007, 2012 and 2014 and at the age of 44 he is after another title on Saturday.
In the New Year's Honours he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit and last year he shattered the course record at Ironman New Zealand in Taupo in winning a record 12th title.
"I couldn't imagine not training through a Kiwi summer and racing at the Port of Tauranga Half," Brown said.
"It's always been great preparation for the New Zealand Ironman in March.
"I'm looking forward to my 19th Port of Tauranga Half and another crack at the podium."
Standing in his way is a high quality field led by defending champion Braden Currie, 30, and 2013 champion Graham O'Grady, 37.
But a Whakatane duo could surprise.
Sam Clark, 25, finished second to Currie in the 2015 Coast to Coast and then took advantage of Currie's absence to win last year. Hayden Wilde, 19, who now lives in Tauranga, won the two-day event at last year's Coast to Coast, and makes his first appearance in the Port of Tauranga Half.
TOP EFFORT: Amelia Rose Watkinson wins last year's women's Port of Tauranga Half title. PHOTO:FILE
The women's field on Saturday also features the defending champ, with Hawke's Bay's Amelia Rose Watkinson back after she dominated the women's field last year, winning by a 12m 56s margin.
At 25, she is established as New Zealand's leading women's long distance triathlete and had an outstanding year in 2016, winning 10 long-distance events in Asia.
Her competition on Saturday will come from 2011 runner-up Anna Cleaver, Julia Grant, who was third in 2015, and former Rotorua Marathon winner Erin Furness.
Established triathletes Teresa Adam and Rebecca Clark are also stepping up to the long-distance format after strong short-course careers.
