IRONMAN NEW ZEALAND

The world’s longest-running IRONMAN with a proud and rich history deeply rooted in it’s hometown of Taupō is happening this Saturday, March 27 after it was postponed due to the the Covid-19 outbreak.

The race itself will showcase the best of New Zealand’s triathletes and natural wonderland, with more than 2,000 volunteers and thousands of home supporters lining the streets in pure Kiwi spirit.

“The training and postponement of the race has been really good. I’ve had a few races over summer and Challenge Wanaka was relatively close to the original Ironman New Zealand date. So it’s allowed me to have more recovery time and get in a couple more key training sessions”.

Currie has embraced family time and a break from long haul travel with the  lack of racing over the past three to twelve months and has been looking to Ironman New Zealand as the most realistic  pinnacle event for the summer with time up his sleeve to dial in on different aspects of racing at home and in the gym focusing on strength and conditioning; efforts that in the past, his international race schedule wouldn’t allow for.

“We finally made it, it’s been an interesting year and amazing to think it’s been over a year since I last raced full distance (which was Ironman New Zealand 2020).

Even though there has been a lack of racing, the Ironman champion has had numerous wins in other areas such as the major roll over of bike partners and  joining the FELT family.

“Having FELT on board has been game changing. It’s posed the perfect platform to work on positioning. I’m really lucky to have Justin Ralph from Cycling New Zealand to help with the fit of the bike which is an ongoing process. We’ve been able to achieve a lot more aero positioning; it’s been really cool to see the progression in this area”.

The RedBull endorsed athlete has also utilised the down time to hone in on the world of customisation from bars and saddles to shoe insoles.

“I’ve been working on new custom aero bars with Daniel Barry and integrating them into the new bike. They are a real asset and help me stay in position, comfortably, for a lot longer. I’m also working with the Secret Saddle Club and their gebioMized Stride saddle. I’ve found the new saddle to provide a much improved platform to pedal from and it’s helping me find more consistent power throughout my pedal stroke. Justin Ralph has also designed and built custom gebioMized insoles for more, which are lot more comfortable and allow me to integrate a lot more power into the shoe and pedal through the foot due to the support they provide”.

Currie along with his wife and children are due to arrive in Taupo today to enjoy a few days of taper and all that the area has to offer.

“Taupo is always great for an event like this, my family love coming here and it’s always great when you have that big crowd support during the race”.

Ironman New Zealand was half set up and put on hold when Covid-19 alert levels changed early March with many athletes left questioning whether a postponement was even a possibility considering the magnitude of the task of rescheduling an event of that capacity over a short time period.

“It’s awesome that Ironman New Zealand organisers were prepared to push to sort a new date allowing everyone the opportunity to achieve their goals and experience that success and enjoyment of a race like this at a time like now. It’s really important for everyone out there in all age groups; they put so much into it and commit so much of their summer preparing for an event like this”.