It's difficult to think that any event which involves a 3km open water swim followed by a 180km cycle ride and a 42kg run could ever be described as ''pretty easy''.
But that's how Masterton endurance athlete Gavin Champion found his fourth attempt at Ironman New Zealand in Taupo over the
weekend.
Competing in the 40-44 age group where he was 14th overall, Champion had targeted a personal best time and he managed it by something like 22 minutes, finishing in 9hrs 56mins 50secs, which compared more than favourably with previous efforts of 10hrs 36mins 12secs in 2007, 10hrs 18mins 5secs in 2008, and 10hrs 29mins 17secs.
Champion said his swim time was about what it always had been and, despite the windy conditions, he had improved marginally on the bike.
What pleased him most was his effort on the run, where his time was about 20mins quicker than he had managed before, something he sees as being due to increased hill work in cycle training which increased his stamina on the run.
''You never quite know how you will feel when you get to the run, so it was good to get through that without any problems,'' Champion said. So good, in fact, that Champion is already having second thoughts about an earlier decision to make this year's Ironman his last. ''Maybe we'll have a crack at a fifth next year ... it could happen,'' he said.
Several other Wairarapa endurance athletes also contested the Ironman and known finishing times are: Richard Day 10hrs 24mins 34secs, Steve Hannam 12hrs 24mins 46secs, Neil Cameron 13hrs 9mins 31secs, Michael Duthie 13hrs 9mins 52secs and Diane Chesmar 16hrs 37mins 24secs.
