It's mission accomplished as Brendon Vesty, of Hastings, crosses the finish line of the 40th Kona Ironman Championship in Hawaii yesterday. Photo/supplied
It's mission accomplished as Brendon Vesty, of Hastings, crosses the finish line of the 40th Kona Ironman Championship in Hawaii yesterday. Photo/supplied
The photograph doesn't do it justice but for Hastings triathlete Brendon Vesty the medal from competing in his maiden Kona Ironman Championship in Hawaii yesterday is worth it's weight.
Vesty finished 108th in a field of 291 in the 45- 49 age group and 800th overall in the entire field of 2384 in an event he considers to be the Tour de France of triathlons.
The co-director of Stortford Auto Sales in Hastings clocked 10h 10m 39s after a 3.84km loop swim out of Kailua Bay, 180.2km bike ride and a 42.2km run.
It wasn't what the 45-year-old had dreamt of but he was ecstatic just to finish, after receiving treatment at Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital in Hastings for a bowel infection and also picking up a bug on the aircraft on the way to the event.
"Things haven't been the best and it's been a pretty hard week so I didn't do even great although I had come all this way to try my best," he said from his hotel room this morning via a Facebook chat.
Early in the cycle leg, Vesty caught up to Alexandr Vinokurov, of Kazakhstan, the 2012 London Olympic road race gold medallist, who provided the ideal impetus.
"I knew he was a guy I needed to stay up with so we ended up working together although for the first few Ks he was pushing the pace," he said of Vinokurov, who finished in 4:18.06 in first place off the bike in their male age group.
Vesty, who finished second behind the 45-year-old, was still over the moon despite losing his wheels about 85km into the ride.
"I did about 48km/h and I think my time was 15 seconds faster than Cameron Brown," he said of the world-class Kiwi professional triathlete.
However, when he made the transition to running, about 3km into it, he felt the heat and humidity of the "mother of all triathlons".
"I decided I couldn't run at this pace so I wasn't going to push it."
Brendon Vesty chills out with 2-year-old son Noah after the gruelling Kona Ironman in Hawaii yesterday. Photo/supplied
In sticking to his pre-race forecast, Vesty followed to the mantra of finishing the event rather than trying to push the envelope.
He thought his nutrition was good on the bike but suspected the climatic switch from a Kiwi spring to the sweltering tropical temperature meant he was losing more sweat than he could replenish with fluids.
"I knew I was always going to finish, even if I had to walk but I managed to run most of it."
Vesty said he had come out much wiser for the experience but felt arriving there a fortnight before the event to adapt was imperative.
"You have to get everything right on the day to do well," he said, adding even if he had run his projected 3h 30m he would only have finished in the top 20.
That showed, he felt, the calibre of athletes who converged at the Kona Ironman Championship for the ultimate test but having not pushed the run his body was much better for it today.
Vesty was looking forward now to a much-anticipated holiday with partner Jessica Harris and children Karsen Vesty, 14, Sofia Vesty, 12, Sage Harris, 8, and 2-year-old Noah Vesty in the United States on the way back home.
"It's a well-earned break because I've worked bloody hard over winter in training."
He was overwhelmed with the social media messages of support from not just friends and family but also the Bay.
"I really appreciate that and the family made a lot of sacrifices and they were great on the day," Vesty said, singling out Jessica for minding the children.
