Port of Tauranga Half Ironman Champion!

Well I couldn’t have started 2011 off any better with winning the NZ National Half Ironman title!

This year was one of the most competitive fields assembled at the Port of Tauranga Half with past winners, Cameron Brown, Kieran Doe, Michael Poole all wanting to take home the title once more. As for me it had been 6 years since I raced here but one race I have always wanted to win.

My day couldn’t have started of any better having a strong swim beside Kieran Doe, building a lead of 1min 40sec to the main field. We knew how Cameron Brown and Callum Millward were running both having wins in their latest races, and our chances of winning this race would be decided on the cycle leg. If we could build a large enough margin heading into the run we just maybe able to pull it off.

So from the first pedal stroke we set into working to extend our lead, and by the end of the ride we had 4mins 30sec on the chasing group. I was fairly confident at this point that I could win the race, doing the maths in my head they would have to have a super run to catch me. The first lap we stayed controlled pacing ourselves to have a faster second lap. At about the 7km I pulled away from Kieran and went it alone for the remainder of the race hoping that I would be able to keep this up till the end.

Like most long distance races you have bad patches and mine started at about 13km into the run, I think the heat and the fast bike ride started to catch up. It’s amazing how your thoughts can change instantly, from being confident in winning, to, will I finish at all. The next 8km was full of ups and downs and the last 2km I was running on empty, thankfully I timed my race to perfection crossing the line 10sec ahead of Callum who had a super run.

It’s taken a while for the result to sink in but am now really happy with my performance. I have been working hard for this race over the last few months so to win it from the front was a great feeling.

Thanks everyone for you messages

Graham