Mccauley completes mother of all Ironman victories

Not bad for a beginner: Currie shows he’s a fast learner

When Jocelyn Mccauley got into Ironman in 2014, it was as a mother who wanted to push herself to the limit.

Entering an event in Texas, at the finish line she told her husband it was a ‘‘one and done’’ thing. She’d conquered an Ironman, and given how difficult it was, didn’t want to do one again.

Four years later, Mccauley is a two-time professional Ironman champion, winning her first Ironman New Zealand title in a stunning upset in Taupo on Saturday.

Meredith Kessler had been a hot favourite to win her sixth straight title, but her fellow American ran away from everyone at the end, posting a sub-three hour marathon to stun the women’s field.

It’s been an unusual path for the 29-year-old, a cross country running star at Brigham Young University.

‘‘When I did my first Ironman, I decided this was a one and done thing,’’ Mccauley said.

‘‘I just wanted to do an Ironman. It’s something my sister does, my sister got me into this, and I didn’t think this was something I was going do four years ago... but it’s something that I Braden Currie went into Ironman New Zealand looking to learn.

It wasn’t about turning up and winning the thing. He knew the field contained a Kiwi legend in Cameron Brown, so it was about soaking up all the details of the race in his debut and taking that into a title tilt in 2018.

Turns out, Currie didn’t need a year to learn the ropes. He was good enough on his first attempt.

Currie swam among the lead group, then was second off the bike as windy conditions battered the competitors in Taupo. On the run, he was able to chase down a spent Terenzo Bozzone and never look back.

There was never any doubting

love.’’

Everybody knew how good Mccauley is on the run.

‘‘It’s two of my wildest dreams come true,’’ Mccauley said of her Currie’s ability to win the event, but that it came in his debut was a shock for him and everyone else involved.

‘‘It’s amazing. I never expected it,’’ Currie said.

‘‘I just came here to figure it out, and just to race it really well next year. I probably couldn’t race it again as well as I did [Saturday].’’

Currie clearly thinks the conditions worked in his favour, and perhaps that is his multisport background coming through.

The swim was rough and choppy. In fact, Brown described it as the hardest swim in the 19 years he’d competed in Taupo.

On the bike it wasn’t any easier. A stiff head wind on the way back to Taupo was a mighty struggle for the riders, but helped Currie out.

‘‘I quite enjoy it, when you get

sub-three hour marathon at the end.

‘‘This was my first pro race two years ago, in Taupo, and I used to remember seeing Meredith win that real stiff head wind,’’ Currie said.

‘‘My power numbers are never very big, so at least when you get a stiff head wind they don’t actually have to be that big as long as you’re sitting low. I managed to keep working and it paid off.’’

All that left was the run, and Currie admitted he was terrified Brown would chase him down despite passing through the cyclerun transition about nine and a half minutes back.

‘‘Cam is just a legend. He’s so ridiculously strong and competitive and consistent,’’ Currie said.

‘‘I knew I could go fast on the run, but I didn’t know how consistent I’d be in the second half of the marathon, so I was just running scared that this guy would chase me down.

and I shyly went up to talk to her after, and she was so nice.

‘‘She said you’re going to do awesome and rise to the occasion, and I’ve kept that with me since

‘‘It’s incredible. To be here, to have a good race and race against Cam.’’

It also helped that his pride and competitive spirit saw him lift the pace during the midway point of the marathon, with Marko Albert on the charge.

‘‘I got into that second lap and Marko took about 30 seconds out of me.

‘‘I’m a pretty competitive guy, I don’t really like that happening, so I decided to try and extend that gap and thought he might pop. I pushed it quite hard for three or four kilometres there, and sure enough, he popped.’’

Given his performance in what was a training run for Currie, it will be intriguing to see what he can do during the 2018 edition.

then. I DNFED last year, got really sick, so coming back this year I was definitely wanting a podium.

‘‘To be able to come out here and do that is unbelievable.’’

As good as Mccauley’s run was, it was her performance in other aspects of the race which allowed her to dominate at the end.

Kessler, the finest swimmer in the field, left Lake Taupo with Annabel Luxford boasting a five minute lead over the rest of the field. That figure wasn’t enough, and left the pair a little worried given they expected an eight or nine minute lead in choppy, difficult conditions.

A superb champion in Taupo, Kessler was in tears at the end, not because she had lost, but because she felt she had let down the people of Taupo.

She had high expectations in pursuit of her sixth straight Ironman NZ title, and felt she didn’t live up to them in a place she regards as her second home.

‘‘I’ve been sick as a dog the last two years leading up to this day. In bed in the foetal position, and got the record the last two years.

‘‘This year, I had a perfect buildup. But as my old coach used to say, if you don’t have adversity before a race, I’m going to buy you a puppy and shoot it.

‘‘He was right. I think I should have bought a puppy.’’

"When I did my first Ironman, I decided this was a one and done thing." Jocelyn Mccauley, above