Cameron Brown fourth in German Ironman

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

CAMERON BROWN: Found the going tough but still managed to finish fourth at Challenge Roth Ironman in Germany.

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New Zealand's Cameron Brown didn't have any gas on the run but he still managed to climb up to fourth at Challenge Roth Ironman in Germany, which doubled as the European long distance triathlon championships.

Brown was about 90 seconds back after the swim but tired over the last 20km of the bike leg and entered the run 12 minutes off the pace.

However, he clawed his way up the field to finish fourth, in eight hours 10 minutes and five seconds, about 10 minutes behind the winner, South African James Cunnama , who finished ahead of German Timo Bracht, who claimed the European title, and Swiss Mike Aigroz.

''Five weeks after completing Cairns Ironman is just not enough time to recover from and then train for another Ironman, especially when your reach the age of 40,'' Brown said.

''I just didn't have any gas left in the tank but still managed to pick up three spots through the marathon.''

Brown will have a three-week break in New Zealand before starting training for the Hawaii Ironman.

In the women's field, new mother Gina Crawford raced her second iron distance event in two weeks after finishing second at Ironman France, and finished fourth.

Honorary Kiwi Britta Martin was less than two minutes behind Crawford, crossing the line to take fifth. The German has lived in Nelson since 2007 and is now very much a fulltime iron distance athlete.

Great Britain's Rachel Joyce won the women's race in 8:45.04, with Crawford more than 15 minutes off the pace.

- © Fairfax NZ News