Battle of the big guns

Cory Taylor and Max Beattie will resume their tantalising ironman rivalry in Mount Maunganui this weekend, although they'd be well advised to keep an eye on a rising tide of talent behind them.

Taylor heads into Saturday's Mount Monster surf lifesaving endurance race as defending champion, having beaten Beattie by nearly five minutes in last year's inaugural 25km classic.


Gisborne's Cory Taylor on his way to victory in the inaugural Mount Monster last year. Photos: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services.

It kick-started a magnificent year for the Gold Coast-based Gisborne star, who went on to win his first national ironman title and help New Zealand win the world championships in France.

Cory says: 'It was cool to win the first one because I didn't know what to expect going into it and it was a new, exciting experience which New Zealand hadn't seen before.

'Training during the winter can be tough but having something like the Monster to train for makes it so much easier and really sets up your summer.”

Midway's Taylor and Omanu's Beattie are both racing in the Australian surf ironman qualifying series this season, aiming to step up to the lucrative Kellogg's Nutri-grain series next year.

They train and compete together for the strong Northcliffe club in Queensland and have engaged in a number of gruelling battles in the last three seasons.

It's a strong local contingent that could be their biggest challengers on Saturday, however, led by Mount Maunganui's Sam Shergold (fourth last year) and Whanagamata's Bjorn Battaerd.

There's also a number of ultra-talented teenagers lining up, including Papamoa pair Mason Bryant and Andrew Trembath, Omanu's New Zealand under-16 ironman champion Sam Pasley and Mount Maunganui quartet Hamish Miller, Kane Sefton, Daniel Barron and Isaac Marshall.

Billed as the next generation of New Zealand ironmen, the young locals are all passionate watermen who spend every free moment training or playing on the long, scenic stretch of coastline which will be showcased on Saturday.

The race starts and finishes on Mount Maunganui's Main Beach and features a five km beach run, a spectacular swim leg which includes a jump off Moturiki Island's blowhole, a 12km ski leg and a six km board paddle.

'Not only is it a 25km stretch of incredibly beautiful coastline but it's a gruelling event with great competitors,” says Beattie, the 2012 and 2013 New Zealand ironman champion.

'Just things like jumping off that rock at the end of Moturiki Island - it's picturesque and there's no place in the world like it and to be able to race here is something special.”

Beattie and Taylor were both in the New Zealand team that headed Australia at the Rescue 14 world championships in France, with Taylor grabbing silver behind Australia's multiple world champion Shannon Eckstein.

With the field having doubled to nearly 250 athletes this year, organisers have split the start with individuals heading off at 10am, followed by teams 10 minutes later.

Follow www.facebook.com/TheMountMonster for results and updates throughout the day.


Mount Monster winner Cory Taylor (left) congratulates New Zealand teammate and runner-up Max Beattie at the end of last year's Mount Monster.

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