Ironman: Victors poles apart in experience and resources

Cameron Brown and Gina Ferguson pocketed $8500 cheques for their victories in the 25th New Zealand Ironman Championship.

On any other count, though, that is where comparisons between the Bonita Ironman winning duo end.

Brown is a legend. In 11 starts he has won eight. His worst placing is second.

With a sponsorship and support package stretching comfortably into six figures, he can focus totally on his sport, dividing his time between training, sponsor commitments and racing.

Ferguson, the lady in waiting, must do it differently.

She has lined up in Ironman New Zealand just three times, finishing sixth (2007) and fifth (2008) before her breakthrough triumph on Saturday.

According to her coach, Greg Fraine, Ferguson must "race to live" and plans to line up in France and Roth (Germany) before joining Brown in a concerted dual attack on the world title in October.

She must also juggle her training/racing with her work as a violinist in the Christchurch Orchestra.

Her philosophy is simple: "I love to race. I learn something every time I race," said Ferguson, 29, after spoiling Jo Lawn's planned party to celebrate a seventh straight triumph which was still on the cards after she had taken a 2-minute lead on to the run leg. "It was the most important win of my career. Around 7km from the end I knew I had the legs to get me home."

But it was her cycling - and Fraine played a part in that - which was the key to her victory.

Ferguson was faster in the 3.8km swim, beating Lawn by 16s, and on the run, where her 3h 09m 25s was 7m 17s faster than Lawn but on the 180km cycle leg she was able to restrict her losses to just 2m 51s whereas a year earlier she was nearly nine minutes slower than Lawn on the bike and seven minutes back on the run.

In clocking 9h 18m 26s, Ferguson leaped from nowhere on the all-time list to third with only Lawn's winning times in 2008 and 2003 now faster.

For Brown, it was simply another day at the office but this time he had to beat off a couple of new names before cruising home in a record 8h 18m 05s - 2m 10s inside his 2005 mark.

Former world duathlon/triathlon champion Terenzo Bozzone had high expectations. He delivered, finishing a brave second on debut.

Luxembourg's Dirk Bockel, like Bozzone an ironman rookie, flew under the radar and upstaged Brown and Bozzone on the swim and cycle legs before succumbing on the run where Brown ran a sizzling 2h 44m 08s - his best.

Bozzone edged Brown on the swim, was less than a minute slower on the bike but managed a still none-too-shabby 2h 50m 50s marathon - better than the 2h 54m 51s run by former Commonwealth Games marathon representative Craig Kirkwood, who was the fastest of all age groupers with his overall 9h 09m 26s.