Half Ironman: Course will test the best

The Rotorua Half Ironman is being staged this weekend, based at Blue Lake. Photo / Ben Fraser

Participants in the Rotorua Half Ironman will have "nowhere to hide" when they tackle the gruelling 113km course.

The event will be held at Tikitapu (Blue Lake) tomorrow with more than 600 competitors entered in the quarter (56.6km) and half (113km) ironman races.

Competitors in the feature race will complete a 2km swim on Blue Lake, 90km cycle to and from Lake Rotoma, and 21km run around Blue Lake and Green Lake.

Organiser Shane Hooks said the half ironman distance was a popular event.

"The beauty of this race is there is nowhere to hide. If you don't train well this race will punish you ... that is its strength."

He said it also gave a lot of people a warm-up to Ironman New Zealand in Taupo in March.

"The ones that do this particular race, they want a harder test in the build-up to ironman."

Hooks was pleased with the number of entrants this year - a record for the event.

As is tradition at the Rotorua Half Ironman, the winners of the men's and women's race will receive a giant, toy bunny. "Most of the elite athletes will already have a lot of trophies in their cabinet. But what they won't have is a soft toy that's 1.5m tall," Hooks said.

He said while the event had an element of competitiveness, there was great social side to the race.

Hooks said there was a good camaraderie among the participants who will often help each other during the long race.

Unfortunately, the men's winner from last year Matt Parsonage (Rotorua) will not be racing tomorrow after being knocked off his bike by a car last week.

Hooks said they were really gutted for Parsonage and he would still be attending tomorrow and awarding the finishers' medals.

It is a big day for local half ironman events tomorrow, with the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Taupo Half also being staged.

The Taupo event generally attracts more elite athletes with prize money up for grabs. The Taupo event is also held on roughly the same course as Ironman New Zealand.

The Rotorua Half Ironman has been held in Rotorua for nine years but originated in Taupo in 1999. About 95 per cent of participants will be coming from out of town for the event, Hooks said. Racing gets under way at 6.25am for the men and 6.30am for the women and teams.