"It was a hard day at the office to tell you the truth. I sort of felt like pulling out halfway through. The bike ride wasn't happening for me and I was just really struggling," Currie said. "I definitely didn't expect Mark [Bowstead] to swim as well as he did so that made it a really hard race. I spent a lot of time chasing and a lot of time battling to catch him up. The course is always tough. It is super flat so you are out there by yourself. It is just a grovel the whole way really.
"I got up to the run and did what I had to do. I had to hang in there and dig deep and it was enough at the end of the day. I didn't really know if my legs were going to come to the party and they did.
"This is a great race and one I always wanted to tick off so it is great to have won it."
Currie has decided to focus on triathlon with a place at this year's Rio Olympics in mind. He has won the gruelling Coast to Coast multi-sport event three times, and placed second overall in XTerra World's racing.
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For Watkinson victory was sweet indeed after a fractured femur wiped out most of 2015 for the talented 24-year-old from Hawke's Bay.
"It definitely felt like a really long winter being injured and not being able to race. I made up for it doing some local cycling races but obviously triathlon's my thing and when you can't do it, it's hard,' she said.
"I think it has made me a stronger athlete mentally and I had a chance to work on my weakness which was the swimming, so I am really. Really happy to be back competing this summer."
Watkinson led out of the water to win in 4:16.26 with Candice Hammond second (4:29.17) and Rebecca Fogarty third (4:30.46).
"It is nice to be leading the race as it gives you confidence. It is also nice to be crowned national champ and I am hoping to go onwards and upwards from here."
- For full results visit: www.mountfestival.kiwi.
