The IRONMAN Cairns Asia-Pacific Championships is set to host an epic battle between some of the best professional men in Australia and New Zealand this weekend, with titans Braden Currie, Mike Phillips, Steve McKenna and a handful of others doing battle in Queensland.
The leading trio, who are already qualified for the IRONMAN World Championships in Nice, will have the freedom to go for broke in Cairns, with McKenna looking in tremendous form following a convincing win at IRONMAN Australian in Port Macquarie last month.
Before the action kicks off in the Northeast of Australia, Currie, Phillips and McKenna took the time to share their thoughts ahead of the race and give an insight into how training has been going leading into this weekend.
“The lead up has been going really well”
With a brilliant track record in Cairns, which includes back-to-back victories in 2018 and 2019, Kiwi Currie knows what it takes to get on to the top step and by his own admission is ready to fight tooth and nail for the win in Queensland.
“The lead up has been going really well. We’ve been over in Australia for the last three weeks now, so we’ve been able to finish of my last little block of training with some decent temperatures and sunshine and warmth and also get back into my swim squad here in Noosa, which always helps with the swim fitness.
“I always enjoy racing IRONMAN Cairns, I think there’s probably a few reasons for it. Obviously, Asia Pacific being on pretty much home soil in a kind of way, the travel distances are a lot easier to manage with the family and set up in Australia.
“I enjoy the race course, I think that the bike course is one of the better bike courses in the world, it’s got a good bit of variety to it, a few punchy little hills to break up the flats, and then the run course being based actually in the city of Cairns, I think it adds an awesome atmosphere to the run and being a lap course on the run, you get lots of crowd interaction and good idea of where you are within the race.”
Despite a strong of great performances over the last twelve months, including a podium at the IRONMAN World Championships in St George and second place finishes at the 2022 IRONMAN Cairns and 2023 IRONMAN New Zealand, Currie is without a win over the full distance since 2021, something he hopes to change on Sunday.
“It feels like it’s been a long time. I feel like last year I definitely came into the race probably a bit too relaxed and under prepared. Obviously, I’d had a great result at the IRONMAN World Champs the month before and I had to take a little bit of time off, but it also kind of enjoyed that time off.
“A lot of focus hadn’t gone into that race, so while I was disappointed with second, I was still happy enough at the race. It would be great to put a bit more into it this year and it would be great to take the win again.”
“I want to race the best in our region”
Having dominated on the domestic scene so far this season with two wins and two second place finishes, including a big win at IRONMAN New Zealand, Kiwi Phillips is ready to race well in Cairns after a good period of prep in Australia.
“I’ve been over in Australia now for a couple of weeks for the final preparation into the race this weekend and I’m looking forward to racing a Regional Championship event against a strong field.
“I think I have a good chance this weekend. Although I have been racing well, I think there is still a lot of areas I can improve and hope to achieve an even better performance over in Cairns.
“Cairns is the Asia-Pacific Championship so brings with it more prize money, PTO points and a stronger field. I want to race the best in our region and hence why I always try to keep Cairns in my race calendar. A win would be another big tick in my return to racing and towards performing well at the IRONMAN World Championship.”
“There’s plenty more to come”
Following a big win at IRONMAN Australia in Port Macquarie, Adelaide native McKenna is ready to take on the mantle of home favourite and battle the Kiwi duo in Cairns, as he still rides the high of winning his first full distance event six weeks ago.
“[IRONMAN Australia] meant a huge amount to the family and myself, I can’t see another IRONMAN victory being as emotional in the future, because this one symbolised all the hard work paying off and proof that I can win at this distance, something I’ve dreamt of for a long time.
“I’m just getting started, but this one made the sacrifices worth it, because we’re confident there’s plenty more to come. I’ve attempted to improve my swim, bike and run all just a little to be ready for anything in this race. I think with my recent run form the past eight to 12 months it’s unlikely other athletes will want to start the run leg with me.
“I want to be prepared for any attacks in the swim or bike and train my ego to also let the right attacks go. I expect some will make a move early and some later on in the race, either way, it’s going to be hard to decide in the moment what risks are worth taking. But, all I’ve known is that being ultra fit and strong will allow all moves to take less out of me or become less of a risk to follow.”
For a full preview of the men and women’s fields at IRONMAN Cairns, plus information on start times and streaming, click here.
