Performances of the Year: Cameron Brown

The first, and only man, to win the same Ironman event 10-times

Published Monday, December 12, 2011

It's one thing to make an appearance at an event for 11 straight years. Can you imagine being fit enough to win it every one of those years? For 11 straight years Cameron Brown has managed to get himself supremely prepared for Ironman New Zealand. In March he won the event for the 10th time - setting a standard that has never been matched by any other Ironman champion - winning the same race 10 times. (Photo of Cameron Brown winning the 2011 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand courtesy ASI Photo.)

Race week has become “the hardest week of his life” as he deals with the pressure and the expectations of an entire country. They love their sports heroes in the tiny country of four million people and, make no mistake, Cameron Brown is definitely one of them. His car says it all – there’s a picture of Brown racing and the simple words: Cameron Brown … Ironman. 

Brown himself is the first to point out that those 10 wins didn’t all come in a row. “Five, and then the bad year, then five. We’ll class it at 10 Ironmans in a row,” he says. “The bad year” was the day race organizers had to cancel the swim in New Zealand thanks to brutal weather conditions. The day turned into a 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Brown couldn’t quite hold off Ain Alar Juhanson that day – losing by just seconds to the powerhouse of a man who has never swum within minutes of the Kiwi.

As hard as he might want to be on himself, though, his achievement in New Zealand is extraordinary.

“I used to go and watch this race in Auckland as a kid and dream about going in it. To win it once was fantastic. But to do it 10 times is pretty special,” Brown said.

Special? We’ll give you that, Cameron. Congrats on achieving one of our performances of the year.

You can read more in a column I wrote earlier this year here

You can reach Kevin Mackinnon at kevin.mackinnon@ironman.com

 

 

 Originally from: http://ironman.com/columns/ironmanlife/the-first-and-only-man-to-win-the-same-ironman-event-10-times?