🏃 Hannah Berry goes in chase of an historic fifth women’s title, Jack Moody the first pure men’s hat-trick since Cameron Brown, the King of the Tauranga, rattled off seven of his record 10 wins in a unprecedented run between 1998 and 2004.
But all tri eyes won’t just be on the Loan Market Oceanside Tauranga Half, the traditional start to the new Kiwi swim, bike and run year, out of Pilot Bay on Saturday.
Reigning T100 world champion and duel Olympic medallist Hayden Wilde and PTO comeback kid Kyle Smith will ensure global glare on another of the Fulton Hogan Mt Festival of Multisport’s events, the Waitoa Mount Festival Half Marathon.
Wilde will launch his year fresh from finishing 5th in his last start, the showcase 5000m Blincoe Cup at the ‘Night of 5s’ in Auckland on December 20 behind a star-studded cast including fellow Olympian Sam Tanner and record smashing teen phenom Sam Ruthe.
Smith, meanwhile, begins his comeback from a bike crash and broken collarbone which has sidelined him since late September. Down to an inconceivable 102nd in the latest PTO rankings, the Taupo 28-year-old is, coincidently, a two-time winner of the Tauranga Half.
It will be fascinating to get a gauge on the pair’s early season form. For historical reference, Korban Bastiaanse won last year’s 21.1km race in 1:14:16 while the course record is Julian Oakley’s 1:07:27 in 2023. Wilde actually won the race the previous year in 1:14:36 but is a vastly superior athlete nowadays; the Kiwi talisman ran a 1:09:05 en-route to second at the 2024 Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Taupo but had been targeting a sub 1:05:00.
WOMEN’S TAURANGA HALF PREVIEW: Berry Goes for 5
Berry will look for a similar start to her breakout 2025 when she modelled consistency to finish 11th overall in the T100 women’s championship and finished an outstanding 4th at the Ironman World Championships in Kona off the back of her year opening Tauranga win. A 5th win would see her standalone as the Queen of the Mount, eclipsing Jo Lawn’s four wins between 2006 and 2012.
As ever, Berry, the 35-year-old PTO world No.12, will be wary of two-time champion Rebecca Clarke (an injury absentee last year) while Samantha Kingsford and Hannah Knighton are back after taking the second and third steps on last year’s podium.
Another to watch will be Nicole van der Kaay in her Tauranga Half debut. The two-time Olympian enjoyed great success in her targeted step-up in distance last year, qualifying for the 70.3 worlds (where she eventually placed 16th) by winning 70.3 Shanghai in May before claiming silver medals at Challenge Forte Village in October and the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in late November.
MEN’S TAURANGA HALF PREVIEW: Moody won’t have it easy
Cameron Brown’s record 10 wins looks very safe but Jack Moody can etch his name alongside the inspiring Tony O’Hagan with a third victory, and close in on another Tauranga Half legend, four-time winner Braden Currie.
With Hayden Wilde and Kyle Smith running the festival’s half marathon and Currie now retired, Saturday’s men’s race pits the Kiwi PTO number’s 2 (Mike Phillips), 3 (Moody), 4 (Ben Hamilton) and 5 (Sam Osborne) in a tasty early season duel.
Moody’s rivals know they’ll have to leg it around the Mount to keep pace with the Auckland whippet; his 3:37:33 last year was swift enough to claim the Tauranga course record.
AGE GROUP PREVIEW: Abu Dhabi and Qatar qualifiers
The iLine Construction Aquabike (2km swim, 90km bike) serves as a qualifier for November’s World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, those competing in the Tauranga Half age group races can use the event as a qualifying race for the T100 Triathlon World Tour Grand Final to be held in Qatar in 2026. To qualify, you need to race well and apply via a Tri NZ Special Circumstances Application.
Tauranga Half Roll of Honour (Multiple winners)
Men
10 – Cameron Brown (1998, ’99, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’07, ’12, ’14)
4 – Braden Currie (2016, ’17, ’22, ’23)
3 – Tony O’Hagan (1992, ’94, ’97)
2 – Scott Balance (1990, ’95)
2 – Craig Alexander (2005, ’15)
2 – Kyle Smith (2020, ’21)
2- Jack Moody (2024, ’25
Women
4 – Joanna Lawn (2006, ’07, ’11, ’12)
4 – Hannah Berry (2019, ’20, ’24, ’25)
3 – Rebekah Keat (2002, ’03, ’04)
3 – Samantha Warriner (2005, ’09, ’10)
2 – Megan Robertson (1992, ’93)
2 – Sue Clark (1994, ’95)
2 – Karyn Mills (1997, ’99)
2 – Gina Crawford (2013, ’15)
2 – Amelia Watkinson (2016, ’17)
2 – Rebecca Clarke (2022, ’23)
Tauranga Half Course Records
Men
3:37:33 – Jack Moody (2025)
Women
3:57:01 – Teresa Adam (2021)
