Whangarei triathlete Sam Warriner celebrated her 38th birthday the way she wanted - winning the Ironman 70.3 Steelhead Triathlon at Benton Harbour, Michigan.
Since breaking two ribs eight weeks ago, the only thing on her mind was getting back on the start line.
All she wanted to do for her birthday was
race, she said.
Warriner lined up for the half ironman race against the likes of former ITU Long Course World Champion Leanda Cave, and former Ironman World Champion Nina Kraft.
The race - 1.9km Swim, 90km bike and 21km run - was held around Lake Michigan.
Exiting the swim Great Britain's Leanda Cave was 35 seconds ahead of Warriner, but within the first 10km of the bike the Kiwi caught and passed Cave and did not look back.
By the end of the 90km cycle Warriner had extended her lead to 4.45 minutes over Cave, with Kraft a further 30 seconds back with the chasing bunch.
On the half-marathon run, Warriner extended her lead to around seven minutes, giving herself plenty of time to soak up the applause of the crowd along the beachside finish straight.
The crowd had been warmed up by American Andy Potts who won the men's race earlier.
Warriner will now return to Los Angeles where she will join her training camp to focus on speed work for September's ITU World Championships grand final at the Gold Coast, Australia.
