Triathlon legend Cameron Brown is going back to the future in next week’s Port of Tauranga Half at Mount Maunganui.
The 38 year old, who has become one of the world's best performed Ironman competitors, is returning to the race where he cut his teeth as an international athlete.
The seven-time winner has confirmed his start in one of the country's longest running and most popular annual races, with the 22nd staging of the Port of Tauranga Half on Saturday 8 January.
Brown first sprang into prominence in endurance triathlon when he won the Mount Maunganui race in 1998, going on to win seven times in a row, along with 11 career victories and three world championship podiums at the full Ironman distance to date.
He is back fully fit and raring to go against a line-up of young charges to contest the 2km swim 90km bike and 21km run event that he has not won for four years.
"I have had a good build-up. It is probably the first time in the last four years or so that I have not had any injury concerns," Brown said. "I am a lot more advanced at this time of year and I am ticking along nicely with my running especially."
Brown said the key has more rest rather than less after October's Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.
"I've usually had a long break after Hawaii but in the last few years I have found that I just ceased up. I have had calf and other running injuries in recent years which we now think is due to the long breaks.
"So we decided to keep things ticking over. I only had two and a half weeks off after Hawaii and even then it caused a few slight issues but things are going really well."
Auckland teenager Michael Poole is the top seed, courtesy of his surprise victory in the 2010 race. The former national schools champion is a super-talented prospect mostly over the Olympic distance where he has his strongest of aspirations.
He will again be pushed by Glenbrook's James Bowstead, a regular training partner with Brown, who has placed third in 2009 and second in 2010, when Poole caught him around the Mauao base track for the final time.
Other major contenders will be 2008 winner Kieran Doe (Auckland), one of the sport's most recognizable and popular athletes, who made his breakthrough on the world scene when he won Ironman Canada in a race record 8:32:44 three years ago.
A mixture of illness and injury has thwarted his progress but Doe was third at Ironman New Zealand in March and followed this with some solid podiums in the USA including victory in Ironman70.3 Calgary.
Hamilton's Graham O'Grady, 28, has plied his trade mostly in the US in recent times with five top-10s in major American 70.3 races in 2010 along with eighth in the prestigious Escape from Alcatraz. He returned home to win the Karapiro Half last month.
Auckland's Callum Millward will be another to watch, moving up to finish runner-up in the recent Gold Coast Half after some success at the Olympic distance.
While Brown has not been a regular starter at Mount Maunganui in recent years, he will be the likely target for all contenders.
"There's a really strong field. They will be coming at me from all directions. I expect the likes of Graham O'Grady and Kieran Doe to push hard in the swim and on the bike to get a break.
"And I'll be hoping for the younger guys like James and Mark Bowstead to push through on the bike and help bridge up closer to the leaders.
"The test is always that second time around the Mount base track. If I can run 1:15 for the run then I should have a good chance.
"I am looking forward to it. It is one of my favourite races and the event that really helped launch my career."
The race has again attracted a sold-out field including 750 individuals and 175 teams, starting at 6.30am on Saturday 8 January.
For full details see www.halfironman.co.nz.
