Ironman expands his repertoire
Canterbury multisport athlete Dylan McNeice knows it’s a big ask to extend his unbeaten run at Challenge Taiwan on Saturday and establish himself as a force in the half ironman distance.
For McNeice a big part of the race will be dealing with the pressure of having never taken a big international half ironman win as well as handle other factors like the presence of former world champion and fellow Kiwi Terenzo Bozzone.
‘‘For me to do that would be a great step in the right direction for my career. I sort of have to start performing at the half distance as well as the full.
‘‘I’m well suited to the full distance race but you can only do so many of them a year. Just for sponsors sake and consistency of incomes sake it’s good to be able to put some good half distance races in your calendar and perform well at them.
The 29-year-old has won the Taiwanese full distance race twice previously, but said that’s no guarantee of a win in the half distance which requires a completely different approach.
‘‘A full Ironman is really, I guess controlled aggression. There’s a lot more control there and things like nutrition and even body type come into it a lot more.
‘‘Whereas in a half, it’s closer to an Olympic distance than a full distance. The intensity’s a lot more, you’re really of racing the whole time.
Having already won his third consecutive Challenge Wanaka title in 2015, McNeice is showing great form, but he faces stiff competition from Bozzone.
2015 has seen McNeice line up against his compatriot on a number of occasions and he would like to beat his friend on Saturday.
‘‘I haven’t actually raced him that much over my career so twice, even three times in a year is very rare for me. I’ve probably only raced him twice in the previous eight years maybe so he’s become a familiar rival and definitely not one you want on the start line next to you.’’
The Christchurch triathlete beat Bozzone in Wanaka, but was
kind pipped to the silver medal by the 30-year old at the New Zealand Ironman in Taupo two weeks later with Cameron Brown taking the win. McNeice knows that the prospect of Bozzone over the half ironman is quite different to competing against him over the full 226km.
‘‘Over this distance [Terenzo] is one of the best in the world so he’s going to hard to beat but at the same time he’s going to push me along which will be great.’’
‘‘He’s obviously a class act and has more run speed than me, so I’ll have my work cut out early for me if I want to beat him.’’
Both athletes will have to fight off Swedish triathlete Fredrik Croneborg. He was second behind McNeice last year.