27.05.13

Brown wins in Fiji - Bula from Fiji, My first visit to Fiji has been a memorable one winning the inaugural Fiji International Half Ironman.

Fiji is just a 3hr flight north of New Zealand so there is no time change at all, great for getting into your normal routine with no jetlag. The race started at 7am and we were wanting to get out there as quickly as possible as it would soon warm up to a toasty high of 32°c! The water temperature was a balmy 25°c so no wetsuits for this swim. I was out of the water in 4th position but only a few seconds behind 1st.
 
Onto the bike I wanted to ride strong right from the start and see if I could break the guys behind me early on, after about 25km it was down to me and Ben Wriede from Australia. The bike course was made up of 3 laps from the island of Denarau through Nadi township and back. The roads were very fast and we went through the first 40km in 56mins. I was feeling strong but knew we had a tough run around the Denarau Golf course to come and the sun was breaking through the clouds for the first time heating up the pavements and the athletes.
 
Off the bike it was just me and Ben with a sizeable gap back to Michael Prince (another aussie). The first few kilometers I was trying to hang on to Ben's pace, I'm only 20 years older than him! hopefully my experience would come through in the heat. Sure enough after 4km I was able to make a break and take the lead from there and win on the beach at the Sheraton Denarau.
 
I'm back to New Zealand tomorrow as I prepare for Ironman Cairns in two weeks time, my form is good so I'm looking forward to returning back to Cairns.
 

 
Fiji International Half Ironman, 2km swim, 80km bike, 21km run
 
1st Cameron Brown
2nd Michael Prince(Australia)
3rd Ben Wriede(Australia)

AVANTI RIDERS