Mount Missiles

The foreboding spectre of Father Time. The Mother of all female fields. Tech set to showcase Kiwi ingenuity to the world and propel long distance triathlon to a much fairer future.

Storylines abounded before the 34th Tauranga Half and each of the overarching narratives delivered in spades on January 21.

Braden Currie’s record-smashing victory not only reaffirmed the Wanaka-based Mid Cantabrian as the

ABOVE: The age group fields were again deep at the Mount Festival of Multisport showpiece

TOP RIGHT: Moody’s bronze in Tauranga spurred him on to gold at Challenge Wanaka

King of Kiwi long distance triathlon but hinted at an age-defying speed spurt that bodes so well for his year of redemption. How about Rebecca Clarke’s run of a lifetime to leave Amelia Watkinson and Hannah Berry in her Mount base-track dust? Or the successful trial of RaceRanger and the global attention afforded the Kiwi-developed drafting detection system?

Or how about the story behind the obvious headlines at the showpiece of the Mount Festival of Multisport? Allow Tauranga Half nearly-man Jack Moody to set the awe-inspiring scene out on the Tauranga Eastern Link Express Highway, or the TEL as the locals know it.

“I pushed the biggest set of power, I pushed more than Taupo by maybe more than nine, 10 percent so, I mean, it was ridiculous,” said Moody, who had entered Tauranga buoyed by victory in the previous month’s Ironman 70.3 New Zealand in Taupo