A race for redemption is how Simon Cochrane described his victory when he won the Rotorua Half Ironman on Saturday - with a margin of nearly 17 minutes - the largest in the event's history.
The 33-year-old was out to wipe the slate clean and finish the year on a high note after a disappointing effort the weekend before at the Taupo Half Ironman, when a five minute time penalty on his bike knocked Cochrane out of contention.
''That ruled me out of the race, I finished and was still in the top ten but it didn't go to plan.''
''This was a good redemption race and a good way to finish the year.''
Cochrane was two minutes down and in third place after the swim as ''the water was almost too warm and I genuinely struggled a bit''.
Rotorua half ironman winner Jessica Dean. Photo/ Ben Fraser
He wasn't sure how his legs would go but pushed hard on the bike.
"I managed to claw back the deficit by the airport and took control by then. After we turned I knew I had a comfortable lead. I decided to just push on and run my own race."
Cochrane's time of four hours and 11 minutes was just 90 seconds slower than last year's winner, five times world triathlon champion Javier Gomez from Spain.
Meanwhile Rotorua's Jessica Dean held on and was the first woman home in her first race after taking a year off following knee surgery.
She won the same category in 2014 but had battled injuries since then.
The 28-year-old, who was a late entry, said she was worried about all the legs but had decided to go hard on the bike and hang in there on the run.
''It was pretty cool. I've been quite injured... I only started running in June and it's been very slow going recovering from knee surgery, my biggest run was last weekend and it was 13kms so doing 21kms, I was not sure how it was going to go.''
Rotorua half ironman winner Simon Cochrane. Photo/ Ben Fraser
Dean said competing again had made her happy and now she was training for the Coast to Coast.
Dean clocked in a time of four hours, 57 minutes and 40 seconds; less than a minute from her closest competitor.
Race director Shane Hooks said the registered field of 707 was the largest to date and a new initiative which started the slower competitors first had proved successful.
''We put them out the front... In any normal triathlon, after the gun goes they never see another person. Today however, they were part of an inclusive event as the main field chased them all down.
"We thought we would trial a super early swim start of 5.15 am, this is 75 minutes before the main field begins, and it worked brilliantly.'
Hooks said a women that took well over eight hours to complete the distance said she never felt more included in an event.
''All the fast guys that were going twice her speed were cheering her on. To hear that feedback was my absolute highlight and I couldn't be prouder of everyone in that race [on Saturday]."
Results Mens: Simon Cochrane, in 4:11:19, George Gwynn in 4:28:08 and Cameron Paul in 4:29:06 Womens: Jessica Dean in 04:57:40, Olivia Ritchie in 4:58:35 and Fiona Love in 5:08:44.
