Record field for 25th anniversary IMNZ 2009.

Taupo, New Zealand

Entries are at a record 1495, which exceeds the previous best marks of 1480 in 2006 and 1425 in 2004.

The field includes 860 New Zealanders – a record in itself and shows the outstanding development of this event and the sport in New Zealand over the past 25 years.

In 1985 just 68 Kiwis were on the start line!

Going by previuos form and race dominance Cameron Brown is the man to beat.

I have been building Richard Usher up on this website to place in the top 3 this year at Taupo. He was 7th here last year in his first triathlon in many years and this year he is more focused on triathlon. He is respected as the best adventure-multisport athlete in the world currently and recently won a 1/2 iron-distance race in a few seconds over the 4 hour mark.

Richard Usher dismounting his bike at a recent 1/2 ironman.

Kieron Doe is out due to ilness.

Doe who was third last year, has been unable to shake a mystery stomach and bowel complaint that has dogged him for several months.

The 27-year-old, who had a breakthrough race-record victory at Ironman Canada in 2007, said he needs to take a break in order to find an answer to the problem.

Doe said he had been able to train at only 80 per cent with each long training session dogged with frequent bouts of stomach upsets.

"It's really disappointing. This is the big race of the year for me in front of my sponsors, my family and supporters," Doe said.

The above on Doe's late withdrawal from IMNZ 2009 is copied from 'sportzhub.co.nz'.

 

 

Terenzo Bozzone is the current world champion over 70.3 so he could upset Camerons day. getting it right the first time racing this distance is a big call though.

Terenzo about to leap on his bike.

Others I know of that will be strong are Germany's Marc Pschebizin and Britain's Stephen Bayliss.

There are several other German pros racing and these guys are notoriously strong in Ironman so that will be interesting. the name Jan Raphael sounds familiar but don't know his current form.

 

In the womans race I expect it to be a tough compitition between Gina Ferguson and Joanna Lawn. lawn has won here a few times before but Ferguson is coming of a good win in 'Challenge Wanaka and two sub 9hr ironman's in 2008. Gina has been focusing mostly on cycling and the running is coming pretty natural for her so she potentially has more gains to make. Gina was not at full health when she raced IMNZ last year but still placed well.

Gina Ferguson in action at 'Challenge Wanaka' earlier this year.

 

Bella Bayliss(Comeford) is lining up again this year and she beat Gina by one place at last years ironman world champs in Kona so she will looking for a top 3. Bella is the partner of Stephen Bayliss.

Charlotte Paul sounds like a contender for top 3 and the other woman who will be aiming to place high are Celia Kuch and Lisbeth Kristiansen. I don't expect the last two to place top 3 but surprises are what makes it interesting to follow.

 

 

 

And another interest story is that of Mike Ransey who is one of two people who is looking to make this 25 IMNZ in a row. He is a retired navy diver so that explains some of the 'hardy nature' it takes to revel in such a challenge as ironman.

 

 

And below is a few images from IMNZ 2008.

Line of swimmers passing the Maori Waka under the media's eye from above. It was a beautiful calm lake for the swim but the weather would gradually worsen as the day progressed.           Near 700-800m into the swim and following the guiding light mounted on the lead kayak.               The calm before the storm at the bike transition.             Cameron Brown's(above left), winning time was amazingly quick given the wet and windy conditions they were dealt up on the day. Kieren Doe looked to give it his everything he had and lead from the front until halfway through the Marathon. Also notable were several other performances including multisport athlete Richard Ussher(above right), who took out 7th overall in his first ever triathlon event.             New Zealand pro Jeremy Boyd gets some media attention in T1.                   Age groupers cooling of made the trip here from all corners of the world.               The crowd support along alot of the cycle course was energizing.             8th     Aid station action on the run.           New Zealand road cyclist melissa Holt enjoying the run.             It was a cool day with wind and rain so it is not surprising the athletes were showing the strain.             Enjoying the day and getting a bit of a running draft.               Belgiums Van Lierde running his way into 2nd overall in the pros.               Cameron Brown reconfirmed that he is in great shape and had this race under control all day to make it seven ironman titles at Taupo. Keiren Doe's 5 minute lead at the start of the run was never going to be enough. read P     Equally on the day was Joanna Lawn holding off a superb challenge from Australian Kate Bevilaqua. Unfortunately this site was unable to obtain photos of the Womans action.         Mens Pros   Cameron Brown won in 8:24:49 Then we had: * Frederik Van Lierde at 8:31:35 * Kieran Doe at 8:33:35 * Stephen Bayliss at 8:37:03 * Pete Jacobs at 8:47:03 * Hubert Hammerl at 8:47:36 * Richard Ussher at 8:48:10 * Duncan Milne at 8:56:30 * Daniel Niederreiter at 8:57:51 * Scott Neyedli at 9:00:17           Womans Pros   Joanna Lawn made history with her record sixth win here in a time of 9:16:00. Behind her were: * Kate Bevilaqua at 9:20:06 * Emi Shiono at 9:23:26 * Bella Comerford at 9:25:33 * Gina Ferguson at 9:33:29 * Fiona Docherty at 9:41:56 * Joanne Bennett at 9:47:27 * Emma Weitnauer at 10:01:56 * Sue Mellsop at 10:08:27 * Elly Franks at 10:10:37           Mens and Womans tri-suits are available for purchase on this site at the clothing link on this page or by clicking on the images below.