IRONMAN New Zealand champion Hannah Wells will line up for her biggest race in six months when she takes on a competitive field at the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship Chattanooga in Tennessee on Sunday.

Wells' last major race was IRONMAN Florida in November last year, where she finished a credible fifth in her first race on US shores against an experienced international field.

The Tauranga triathlete says she's excited to be racing again and getting more international experience under her belt.

'I knew Chattanooga would be a competitive field being the championship race, and so I wanted to come to this one. I am sure there would be easier fields to come and race against, but racing the best is how we learn. I hope to go out there and just give it everything I have on the day, have a bit of fun amongst the pain, and see how that ends up,.

'I am just happy to be back racing again full stop, it's been a while. It's great to be over here to get some international experience again now that travel is a bit easier. I've only raced outside of Australasia once, IRONMAN Florida last year, so any experience over here is super valuable at this stage of my career.”

On her return to New Zealand at the end of 2021, Wells suffered an injury which resulted in a re-think in terms of her race schedule for 2022.

She had intended to defend her Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand title in March before the event's postponement to December but is now focusing on the IRONMAN 70.3 distance for the first half of the year.

'I had hoped to get on to the Nutri-Grain IRONMAN New Zealand start line this summer, but that didn't become an option unfortunately. I now hope to focus on the IRONMAN 70.3 distance for the first half of this year, then later on in the year I might look to do a full distance again, but I don't want to rush into the full distance now.

'I had an injury late in 2021 but have been injury free since. I made the decision after my last injury to not rush getting back to peak form to minimise injury risk again, so my build back has been cautious but also very consistent. So after a good consistent last couple of months I am feeling pretty good, although I don't expect to be in top form just yet, that will come later this year.”

Wells flew to the US a week ago, putting her stopover in Los Angeles to good use by entering a standard distance triathlon in the city before continuing on to Chattanooga.

'It was tough to be honest. I only landed in LA a couple days before the race and I think the long-haul travel was still in my system a little, plus with the long break in racing everything felt a little unfamiliar. she said.

'But the Herbalife Tri worked well as a rust buster ahead of the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Champs in Chattanooga. We were passing through LA at that time to get to Chattanooga anyway, and with it being a week out it worked out well for that purpose, and it was a bit of fun getting to race through the streets of LA.”

The IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship Chattanooga women's pro field features the likes of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion Flora Duffy (BMU), three-time IRONMAN World Champion Mirinda Carfrae (AUS), and multiple IRONMAN 70.3 winners Paula Findlay (CAN), Holly Lawrence (GBR) and Jackie Herring (USA).

Wells, a four-time IRONMAN 70.3 champion herself, says she's not putting any pressure on herself going into the race and is hoping she'll gain valuable experience by racing against some of the best triathletes in the world.

'I'm hoping to get experience really and see how my current build is going and determine whether we need to adjust the current training plan for the next few months. It's a chance to enjoy racing hard again and see if I can make an impact in the race with the current fitness I have,” she says.

After the race, Wells will head back to New Zealand before flying to Australia to continue her current training block.

'I plan to come back to New Zealand briefly before heading over to Noosa to continue this current training build. I will then look to do more races overseas in the US and Canada in July/August. From late August/September I'll be back home again. I hope to race a few IRONMAN 70.3's in Australia early summer, before racing our New Zealand season from December onwards. So yes, you will definitely see me racing back at home.”

The IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship Chattanooga course will take athletes through a 1.9km swim down the Tennessee River, a 90km bike through the historic Chickamauga, followed by a 21.1km run through downtown Chattanooga.