Ironman: Cameron on cloud nine

Yesterday Cameron Brown claimed his ninth Ironman New Zealand title. He now has his sights set on number 10. Photo / Getty Images

Halfway through the race, Cameron Brown thought his title had gone.

Nearly eight minutes up the road, Terenzo Bozzone was riding away from the rest of the field and on the verge, in Brown's eyes, of a breakthrough win. Brown has always said it's a case of when, not if, Bozzone wins Ironman New Zealand.

It didn't happen yesterday, however.

Brown claimed his ninth Ironman New Zealand title and he now has his sights set on his desired goal of 10. Even at 37, it's not inconceivable he could take it beyond that number, given that he set a race record last year and fewer international athletes are racing in Taupo because of the proliferation of other events elsewhere.

Brown has owned this race since his first win in 2001. He finished second in 2006 but that was only because the swim was cancelled and the bike and run legs shortened.

He peaks for this event and, unlike other races like last year at Kona when he finished a disappointing 22nd, doesn't have bad days at Taupo.

He had his worries yesterday but in the end won comfortably, finishing in a time of 8h 21m 52s. He was more than eight minutes ahead of Bozzone, with fellow Kiwi Kieran Doe a further four minutes back in third.

The race was effectively over heading into the marathon. Brown and Doe had reduced Bozzone's lead to less than a minute and that was never going to be enough to hold off Brown, who has run 2h 42m over 42.4km. Yesterday he finished in a more leisurely 2h47m 35s.

"I was getting pretty scared," Brown admitted afterward.

"I thought the title was over. There was a lot of worry going through my head but as soon as that second lap [of the bike leg] started and I was getting some splits, it started coming down. It's reassuring when the lead comes down quickly. Terenzo was riding like a man possessed in those early stages.

"When I caught him, I tried to move past him as quickly as possible. I was a little pissed off with him because he hurt me for six hours so I wanted to hurt him back. You want to get into their head. He had got into mine and really scared me."

Bozzone will take some comfort from that. At 25, he is an athlete of tremendous potential but he knows he still has a lot to learn and knew his mistake yesterday.

"Patience is the big thing I learned," he admitted. "I haven't really had much of that all my life. I have to stop getting emotional out there and getting more strategic.

"The wind was horrible. My legs started dying and I knew then I had probably gone out a bit hard. That's where the lack of experience comes in. I thought the pace was OK and I could ride like that but obviously not.

"I would love to give this another crack and get a bit closer to Cameron before his prime is over. It would be great to challenge the champion at his best. I think he still has a few more years in him. I want big things in this sport and I know it's going to happen in a few years."

There will be more who now think it could also happen for Doe. The dreadlocked 28-year-old finished third in this event three years ago but has battled mysterious health issues for the past two years.

He's also an athlete who normally goes out as hard as possible in the hope of breaking his opponents only to break himself.

Yesterday he paced himself throughout and was content to let Brown pull him along. He needed to finish for a number of reasons - his sponsors and supporters - but largely for himself.

"I wrote the plan down before the race and everything went 100 per cent, except that Terenzo was meant to die a bit more and I was meant to catch him.

"There have been lots of different pressure from lots of different areas. No one puts more on than me. It's not very often that I'm proud of myself but I am today."

The day, though, belonged to Brown once again. He's well loved in Taupo - one marshall called him Mr Taupo - and if he can get to 10 they might hand him the keys to the town.

Hell, they might even name a street after him.