Ironman New Zealand Results
New Zealand
Saturday, March 1, 2003
2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run
Complete Results

New Zealand’s top long-distance triathlete Cameron Brown created history when he won his third straight Ironman New Zealand title at the Carlton Gold-sponsored event in Taupo yesterday. Brown, 30, won the gruelling 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run in a course record 8h 22m 5s, shaving 39s off the old mark set by German Thomas Hellriegel in 2000. He became the first person in the event’s 19-year history to win the title three times in a row. Switzerland’s Olivier Bernhard finished second eight minutes further back, with South African Jan Van Rooyen third another 12 minutes adrift in third place.

Joanna Lawn rounded out the race double for New Zealand athletes, also in the course record time of 9h 17m 56s, just over two minutes quicker than Canadian Melissa Spooner clocked to win four years earlier. Lawn staved off a strong marathon challenge to hold out defending Kiwi champion Karyn Ballance, just 2m 36s further back in second, with two-time winner, Canadian Lisa Bentley another 1m 16s behind in third place.

Brown had to play catch-up for most of the day after former American pro cyclist Steve Larsen blasted a course record 4h 26m 45s on the bike, taking nearly eight minutes off world champion Peter Sandvang’s previous mark. Larsen’s powerhouse performance rocketed him from 67th after the swim to a five-minute lead over fellow American Chris Lieto at the start of the rmarathon.

Brown racked his bike 11 minutes off the pace but the two-time Hawaii Ironman placegetter hit the front before the half-way mark in the run and held off the fast-improving Bernard with a 2h 47m 24s marathon. "I was getting splits out on the run course and I was worried about Olivier gaining," said a shattered Brown. "I was a bit scared I’d gone out too fast on the run - I started to cramp up toward the end and my legs were starting to give away a bit. But the crowd really made me win today.

"It was nice to be able to relax in the last 2km, high-five the crowd and enjoy the finish. It’s the first time I’ve been able to do that here." Bernhard drew level with Brown at around the 110km mark on the bike but couldn’t go with the Kiwi because freezing conditions in Switzerland had forced him to train indoors for the last six weeks. "At the start of the run I just wanted to finish," said Bernhard. "Then I started moving up through the field which was a pleasant surprise to me."

Lawn set up her first Ironman victory with the fastest women’s ride seen in Taupo (5h 8m 15s). The Aucklander, who finished second to Ballance in 2002, looked unbeatable for most of the day. She was third after the swim, just three minutes off the course record pace set by American Andrea Fisher (49m 30s), then hammered the pedals to set up an 11-minute cushion over Ballance going into the 42km marathon run, with Bentley another three minutes adrift. "At one of the turnarounds I saw that Karyn had closed the gap to about 200m and for a few seconds I thought ‘OK I’ll settle for second again’," said Lawn.

"But then I let out a few screams and a few tears as I ran by my coach and the on-button switched on again. ``It’s always been my dream to win this race and to beat Karyn and Lisa in the run is an awesome feeling." In a day for race records, Tauranga doctor Matt Brick became the first 40-year-old in the southern hemisphere to break Ironman’s magical nine-hour mark, collapsing across the tape with just seconds to spare.

The former two-time world duathlon champion sealed the win in the race’s cut-throat 40-44 year old age division with the day’s third fastest ride of 4h 38m 21s. A total of 991 competitors completed the event with next year’s 20th anniversary set for Taupo on Saturday 6 March.