In a cold, driving rain, 39-year-old Cameron Brown easily held off the new guard to take his record 10th Ironman New Zealand win while fellow Kiwi Samantha Warriner held off Mirinda Carfrae’s blazing run to win her first Ironman.
While Brown’s 8:31:07 was far from his fastest day at Taupo, the 39-year-old’s dominating 10 minute 47-second margin of victory over likely Kiwi Ironman successor Terenzo Bozzone had to be his most satisfying. In matching Mark Allen’s 10 wins domination of the Nice Triathlon, Brown has set the mark for wins at a single official WTC Ironman event and closed the door on any thoughts he was ready to pass the torch to his 13-years-younger rival. Mathias Hecht of Switzerland took third, another 3 minutes 42 seconds behind Bozzone, with Kiwi Keegan Williams another 3:58 back in 4th.
Brown emerged from the swim 6th, 3:07 back of Bozzone’s 47:14 and 3:02 back of Hecht. The master of Taupo then posted a second-best 4:43:04 bike that left him 2:45 back of Scott Curry’s race-best 4:39:59 bike leg but 2 minutes up on Hecht and 5 minutes ahead of Bozzone.
Brown made quick work of Curry, passing the Canadian at 8.5km and decimating his opponents with a race-best 2:52:09 marathon that added 5 minutes on Bozzone’s third-best 2:57:52 run, 12 minutes on Hecht’s survival-slog 3:04:19, and 13 minutes on 4th place Keegan William’s 3:05:27 for the 26.2-mile final leg.
After his brave lead off the bike, Scott Curry grimly held on to 5th place with a 3:14:21 run, while amateur overall winner Luke Harrison advanced to 6th overall with a second-best 2:55:56. Harrison pipped Petr Vabrousek by 16 seconds for 7th place, but the Czech Republic veteran pro could console himself with an amazing 100th Ironman finish.
In another Kiwi victory against the onslaught of age, 39-year-old Samantha Warriner finished in 9:28:24 and prevailed over twice-flatted, reigning Ironman Hawaii champion Mirinda Carfrae by 3 minutes 9 seconds, with 7-time Ironman New Zealand champion Joanna Lawn just 20 seconds further back in 3rd place.
The win came in Warriner’s very first WTC Ironman event, and will hold a place of honor on her already excellent resume that includes 7 ITU World Cup victories, a bronze medal at the 2008 ITU short course World Championship and three Ironman 70.3 victories last year.
While Warriner undoubtedly benefited from Carfrae’s unfortunate two flats on the bike that left the Kona champion 22 minutes back at T2, the long time ITU short course star earned the win in excellent time for the nasty, wet conditions that left many competitors shivering and shaking and blue in mood and skin tone.
Warriner emerged from Lake Taupo in a women’s fastest 50:30 tme, with a 2:13 advantage over Carfare and 7-time Ironman New Zealand winner Jo Lawn, 2:08 over Kirsten Molloy, and 2:17 over Belinda Harper.
Warriner then put the hammer down with a women’s-best 5:10:39 bike that left her 9:04 up on Kate Bevilaqua, who overcame her 58-minute swim with a women’s second-best bike of 5:11:55, a lead of 10:05 over Belinda Harper and 10:51 over Britta Martin. More to the point, she had bigger advantages over her most dangerous rivals -- 15 minutes up on Jo Lawn, who suffered one flat, and 22 minutes-plus on Carfrae.
While Catriona Morrison overcame a 45-minute deficit after a long pit stop to repair her bike and win Lanzarote last year, even Carfrae’s 2:53 Ironman Hawaii record marathon capability could not turn the trick this day. After putting her big lead in the bank on the bike, Warriner plugged away with a 3:20:52 marathon that left her enough minutes ahead to savor her trip down the finish chute.
Carfrae’s by-far race-best 3:01:06 marathon was enough to make a pass on Jo Lawn at kilometer 38. But after that surge, Carfrae could only put another 20 seconds on the plucky 7-time Taupo champ, who never gave up and posted the second-fastest women’s run of 3:10:54 to take an honorable third place.
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand
Taupo, New Zealand
March 5, 2011
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Overall Men
1. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:31:07
2. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 8:41:54
3. Mathias Hecht (SUI) 8:45:36
4. Keegan Williams (NZL) 8:49:34
5. Scott Curry (CAN) 8:50:44
6. Luke Harrison (AUS) 8:58:14 * M30-34
7. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 8:58:30
8. Deano Gaskin (NZL) 9:07:10 * M35-39
9. Richard Bayly (NZL) 9:10:05 * M30-34
10. Stephen Gage (AUS) 9:9:10:41 * M40-44
Overall Women
1. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 9:28:24
2. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) 9:31:33
3. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 9:31:53
4. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) 9:40:01
5. Belinda Harper (AUS) 9:40:33.
6. Kirsten Molloy (AUS) 9:49:02
7. Michelle Mitchell (AUS) 9:50:04
8. Janine Willis (AUS) 9:55:17 * W35-39
9. Candice Hammond (NZL) 9:56:41 * W25-29
10. Renee Lane (AUS) 10:01:59
Women's 6th through 10th place finishers to come
