Triathlon: Wins mount up for Aussie Tri King

Gina Crawford crosses the finish line to win her second Port of Tauranga title. Photo / George Novak

Craig Alexander showed his true calibre with a classy victory in the 26th Port of Tauranga Half at Mount Maunganui on Saturday morning.

The 41-year-old Australian, with five world titles and dubbed the King of Kona after three wins in the Hawaiian Ironman, has not competed at the event since he won in 2005.

The men's podium finishers at the Port of Tauranga Half, from left, Braden Currie (second), Craig Alexander (first) and Cameron Brown (third).

But he looked like he had never been away as he won comfortably in 3:48:03 with double Coast to Coast champion Braden Currie, 27, second (3:49:11) and ten-time champion Cameron Brown, 42, third (3:49:31).

Alexander's winning time was seven 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. It meant Alexander had extra bends to contend with and finished running on grass which certainly slowed him up.

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 a tough day," he said.

O'Grady was first out of the water ahead of Alexander, Currie, Brown and Mark Bowstead. Alexander was still third leading into the final 10km run lap but took control well before the final trek around the Mount base track.

He hopes to return next year to defend his title.

"If I am racing next year I will be back. I love it here where the whole town gets behind it and the media gets behind it. This is how the sport was 20 years ago when I first started and now they are few and far between. It is what I really miss about the sport."

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

"It was a great hit out. I had a great swim and then a really good bike ride which was important because Michelle is a really strong cyclist," Crawford said. "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 it came right."