14.04.15

Cameron Brown - 4th at Ironman Taiwan - It was great being part of the inaugural Ironman Taiwan in Kenting in the most southern park of Taiwan

Cameron Brown's 4th placing achieved when the athlete thought he may not finsih the race.

Read about his challenge in his race report below:

Race day dawned calm and mild, lucky for the athletes as it had been blowing a gale all week long. With the water temperature at  24°c it was a no wetsuit swim for the professionals, I had a good swim coming out in 3rd place and was keen to keep pushing the pace early on so I could take the lead and did so at the 5km mark.

The first part of the 180km bike ride was undulating but at the 30km mark the hills started with a long 8km climb followed by a steep 2km climb and then finally another 7km ascent. I held the lead until the 40km mark when I was caught by Domenico Passuello, the Italian rode for the Quick Step professional cycling team so he knew how to ride a bike. Domenico was riding hard and I couldn't follow his pace half way up the first climb. I was then caught by Fredrik Croneborg and Patrik Jaberg and we stayed together for the final 90km. The lead to Domenico grew to 10mins at one stage but we managed to minimize the margin to 8:30mins at T2.

I felt tired coming off the bike and my first few steps on the run I knew I was in deep trouble and in for a long day! I couldn't hold a steady pace and at the 5km mark it felt like I had run 40km! It was a slow death march to the finish line and at the 30km mark I thought I may not finish the race. In the end I told my self to harden up as I had 5 other guys breathing down my neck, in the final 7km I was able to run ok and managed to hold on to my 4th place, not a great result but good for having a bad day so soon after Ironman New Zealand.

Ironman Taiwan, 3.8km, 180km, 42km

1 Passuello, Domenico ITA    0:52:26 4:32:16 2:55:53 8:25:55
2 Croneborg, Fredrik SWE     0:50:36 4:42:57 2:49:48 8:28:38
3 Evoe, Patrick USA               0:55:42 4:42:27 2:57:06 8:40:58
4 Brown, Cameron NZL          0:50:57 4:42:30 3:04:22 8:43:14
5 Jaberg, Patrick SUI              0:52:21 4:40:53 3:05:48 8:44:47
6 Baldwin, Nick SYC               0:52:25 4:53:01 2:54:32 8:46:00
7 Bartsch, Mauro SUI              0:52:42 4:47:51 2:59:17 8:46:33
8 Dzalaj, Karol SVK                 0:52:13 4:45:36 3:01:12 8:46:40

 

Words: Cameron Brown

AVANTI RIDERS