Cam Brown blitzed past early leader Dirk Bockel and held off Ironman 70.3 World Champion Terenzo Bozzone with a blazing 2:43:10 marathon to take his amazing 8th Ironman New Zealand title Saturday in a record 8:18:04. Brown outpaced fellow Kiwi Bozzone by 7 minutes 32 seconds, with Luxembourg’s 25th place Olympian Bockel another 1 minute 35 seconds further back in third.
Brown took the lead from Bockel at 26.8km, after the Luxembourg native made a break on the bike, which mirrored his race tactics at Beijing. Bozzone caught Bockel at the 38km mark to secure his second place finish.
Overcoming a 4:08 deficit to bike leader Lisbeth Kristensen of Denmark and a 33-second margin to 6-time Ironman New Zealand champion Lawn at T2, Christchurch Symphony violinist Gina Ferguson ran away from her rivals with a 3:08:11 marathon to hit the line first in 9:18:25. The win was Ferguson’s 5th Ironman distance victory and third official Ironman win in a two year streak that marks her as New Zealand’s top Ironman contender after wins at 2007 Ironman Wisconsin, 2008 Challenge Wanaka and a sub-9 hour effort at Ironman Western Australia. Starting 2009, Ferguson took her second straight Challenge Wanaka in January followed by Saturday’s win on a rainy, cool-to-cold day in Taupo.
After her noble effort at the front of the bike, tall Dane Kristensen had to settle for 4th place, passed by fast-closing third place finisher, Aussie Charlotte Paul, with 4km to go.
Scotland’s Bella Bayliss (formerly Comerford) finished 5th in 9:41:03.
Bonita Ironman New Zealand
Taupo, New Zealand
March 7, 2009
S 2.4 mi/ B 112 mi/ R 26.2 mi
Results
Men
1. Cameron Brown (NZL) 8:18:04 (course record)
2. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 8:25:36
3. Dirk Bockel (LUX) 8:27:11
4. Jan Raphael (GER) 8:32:31
5. Richard Ussher (NZL) 8:35:55
6. Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 8:38:28
7. Mike Neill (CAN) 8:44:49
8. Shingo Tani (JPN) 9:00:13
9. Bevan McKinnon (NZL) 9:01:13
10. Marc Pschebizin (GER) 9:03:01
Women
1. Gina Ferguson (NZL) 9:18:25
2. Joanna Lawn (NZL) 9:23:07
3. Charlotte Paul (AUS) 9:30:24
4. Lisbeth Kristensen (DEN) 9:32:50
5. Bella Bayliss (SCO) 9:41:03
6. Emi Shiono (JAP) 9:54:16
7. Nicole Ward (AUS) 9:56:03
8. Britta Martin (NZL) 9:56:17
9. Jenny Gowans (NZL) 9:57:57 *
10. Bridget Fry (NZL) 9:58:12*
* Age Group F30-34
