Triathlon: Event tops with Aussie legend

Craig Alexander wins the Port of Tauranga Half on Saturday. Photo / George Novak

Craig Alexander had not competed in the Port of Tauranga Half since he won in 2005.

But the 41-year-old Australian, with five world titles and dubbed the King of Kona after three wins in the Hawaiian Ironman, rolled back the years with a consummate victory in Saturday's feature event of the Mount Multisport Festival.

Alexander was the first elite male home in 3:48:03 in a world class front-running trio with double Coast to Coast champion Braden Currie second (3:49:11) and ten-time champion Cameron Brown third (3:49:31).

Alexander's fond memories of running past throngs of people eating breakfast on Marine Parade and particularly the two laps of the Mauao base track enticed him back after 10 years.

"The reason I came back was the run around the Mount," he said. "That is very unique and you rarely get something iconic like that on a course. On 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."

Gina Crawford repeated her 2013 victory to easily win the women's title in 4:22:05 with former Mount Maunganui resident Michelle Bremer second home in 4:33:05 and Julia Grant from Ashburton third in 4:37:25.

The Port of Tauranga Half doubled as the 2015 National Long Distance Triathlon Championships with titles awarded across various age groups. It was also the highlight of the inaugural three-day Mount Festival of Multisport which featured a fun run around and up Mauao, paddle races on Pilot Bay, the Weetbix Kids TRYathlon, a 400m dash for cash, the TRI NZ Tag triathlon and the Bay of Plenty Times New Zealand Beach Volleyball Championships.