Craig Alexander showed his true calibre with a classy victory in the 26th Port of Tauranga Half at Mount Maunganui on Saturday morning.
The 41-year-old Australian, with five world titles and dubbed the King of Kona after three wins in the Hawaiian Ironman, has not competed at the event since he won in 2005.
But he looked like he had never been away as he won comfortably in 3:48:03 with double Coast to Coast champion Braden Currie, 27, second (3:49:11) and ten-time champion Cameron Brown, 42, third (3:49:31).
Alexander's winning time was seven seconds outside the record set by Graham O'Grady. This year organisers decided to move the transition area and finish line from Pilot Bay to Coronation Park. It meant Alexander had extra bends to contend with and finished running on grass which certainly slowed him up.