Ironman World Champion Braden Currie set a new course record on Saturday at the Tauranga Half. Photo / Hamish Collie
Ironman World Champion Braden Currie set a new course record on Saturday at the Tauranga Half. Photo / Hamish Collie
A new course record was set at Saturday’s Tauranga Half at Mount Maunganui by three-time winner Braden Currie.
It was the 34th running of the Tauranga Half as the sunshine and near-perfect conditions drew elite athletes and excited spectators alike to cheer the competitors across the finish line.
After a 2km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run Wanaka’s Braden Currie led the pack, setting a new course record with a finish time of 3:37:47.
Currie’s times smashed the previous course record set by Kyle Smith in 2021 by over two minutes and secured his fourth Tauranga Half crown.
The Tauranga Half doubles as the 2023 New Zealand Mid Distance Triathlon Championships and Currie said he “couldn’t be more stoked” to start the season with a win.
Braden Currie competed in the Tauranga Half course which included a 2km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run. Photo / Hamish Collie
“This is the race that sets me up for the year,” Currie said.
“I normally focus on ironman distance but I am mixing it up this year with the new Professional Triathletes Organization 100km races. Today gave me the confidence that age hasn’t caught up on me just yet.”
Currie, 36, came third at the Ironman World Championship in St George Utah last year.
He’s had his focus firmly on the Ironman World Championship in Kona since before Covid-19 took hold.
“I had decided I wouldn’t race the Tauranga Half this year as I wanted to spend more time with my family around Christmas and the New Year period before I got stuck in.
“Then pretty much every Kiwi professional I know put their name on the start list. I knew I needed to take a concrete pill and make it to the start line.”
Currie said his coach planted the seed that if he was going to race he had to re-set the bar and break the course record.
“I thought I was just going to have a nice easy warm up into the season, but I think at the back of both our minds, we wanted to start the year the way we intend to finish it.”
This is Currie’s fourth win in the Tauranga Half following victories in 2016, 2017 & 2022. Only NZ multisport legend Cameron Brown has more titles in this iconic event.
Ironman World Champion and Tauranga Half course record-setter Braden Currie (left) with his family. Photo / Hamish Collie
The Tauranga Half’s first woman across the finish line, Rebecca Clarke rated today’s victory as “her best ever performance in New Zealand.”
While she won the title last year, Clarke said the field didn’t include two-time Tauranga Half champions Amelia Watkinson and Hannah Berry.
“Making today’s win against the best in the country extra special.”
Clarke said she credits recent training in Wanaka for her outstanding run performance.
“I have been based in Wanaka lately so have been running a lot in the local trails, which helped me round the undulating base track today, and my overall strength on the run.”
The Tauranga Half was the headline event for the Fulton Hogan Mount Festival of Multisport which also featured the Pilot Bay Swim over 800m, 2km & 3.7k distances, anAquabike event which is a swim followed by a bike leg, and the Pressio Mount Run which was held over 5km, 10km and half marathon distances.
