Cameron Brown wins his 11th Ironman New Zealand title on Saturday in Taupo.
Cameron Brown wins his 11th Ironman New Zealand title on Saturday in Taupo.
Cameron Brown's legacy at Ironman New Zealand has gone from being incredible to super human.
Brown (Auckland) claimed his 11th title at the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand on Saturday in Taupo, after last winning the endurance race in 2011.
He broke his own record for being the oldest maleto win an Ironman event anywhere in the world, at age 42.
He also extended his remarkable run of podium finishes to 17 in a row at the event in Taupo.
Fellow Kiwis Terenzo Bozzone (Auckland) and Dylan McNeice (Christchurch) finished second and third respectively.
It marked a good day for the Kiwis. Six overseas athletes were seeded inside the top 10 for the race, but the Kiwi trio managed to finish 1-2-3.
Brown finished in a time of 8hr 22min 13sec, almost seven minutes ahead of Bozzone and about 16 minutes ahead of McNeice.
"My first victory in 2001 was pretty cool, but when you win when you are nearly 43 it is right up there," Brown said. "I never thought I'd be winning this race at 42. I still love the sport, it's bloody tough out there and we're all just in a world of pain at the moment, that's for sure."
McNeice set a new record in the swim on Saturday before Bozzone chased him, Graham O'Grady, and Todd Skipworth down on the bike leg.
Bozzone held the lead for a good portion of the 180km bike and at one point boasted a four minute lead over Brown.
But Brown dug deep and caught up with Bozzone. The pair went into the 42km run side by side, before Brown pulled away.
Bozzone said he went from feeling really good on the bike to feeling really poor.
"I felt really good over the first half [of the race] but that is Ironman, it is all about the second half of the race."
Bozzone said even though he had finished behind Brown on a couple of occasions now, he was not in a hurry to see Brown retire. "I would like to take it off him before he retires."
Kessler betters Ironman record
American sensation Meredith Kessler has broken her own record at Ironman New Zealand.
She won the women's race on Saturday in a time of 9h 5m 45s, shaving more than two minutes off the previous record which she set in 2014.
Meredith Kessler
She has now won the event for the past four years.
Wanganui's Gina Crawford finished second about 20 minutes back from Kessler, with Auckland's Melanie Burke finishing in third about 35 minutes behind the winner.
It was an emotional finish for Kessler, who said the race in Taupo was very special to her.
"Until these legs give out on me I will be here for as long as I can," she said.
"With the conditions I certainly didn't expect the record.
"The bike was so hard because of the wind and even the run on the back half of each loop the wind was brutal. I was elated to break the record.
"I worked out the math and for that last kilometre I sprinted as fast as I could to try to snag it."
