Bay of Plenty triathlete Hannah Berry has emerged victorious at the 2023 Mazda IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel presented by Innovasport, claiming her first title in two years.

Berry led for the majority of the 113km race, eventually shaking off Australian Sarah Crowley to take the tape in 4:08:04, less than a minute behind the course best time.

This weekend’s win in Mexico was Berry’s first since the 2021 IRONMAN New Zealand.

“It feels awesome, it’s been a while. I haven't won a race since March 2021, so yeah, feels like it has been a bit of a long time coming. I had a few hurdles since then with injury but have felt like I’ve been building and training well over the last three to four months. So it was nice to put together a race that shows the progress I've made so far this year, which is cool,” says Berry.

It was the perfect day out for Berry, who has been training and now raced in the heat of Mexico in preparation for next month’s VinFast IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawai`i.

“It's a big confidence boost for Kona. Everyone has said that the conditions here are actually hotter than Kona, so it was nice to get a hot race under the belt and test nutrition and just see how it'd go in the heat. I haven't had a lot of experience in the heat previously. It’s also my fastest run in a while since being injured early this year, so the run progress is coming along nicely and then a good swim and bike before that.

“It was really hot, the water is really warm here as well, so you're warm from the start and sweat a lot. I really had to take on a lot of hydration and salt as well on the bike and then, of course, on the run as well. I made the most of the aid stations on the run, slowed right down and took on as much ice and water and just everything to cool me down as much as possible through the aid stations.”

Berry was second out of the water after the 1.9km swim, just four seconds behind American Hannah Sakaluk, but was first out onto the bike course after a swift transition.

The two Oceania athletes, Berry and Crowley, rode side by side for the duration of the 90km bike leg, with nothing separating them as they headed into transition for the second time. 

“Overall, just really good across three disciplines. Good swim, came out of the water second behind another athlete, Hannah, she's a really good swimmer, so that was good. I came out of T1 first, which was nice, good to get on the road first. Then a strong bike, had company with Sarah Crowley with me the whole way, and we rode really strong, it was pretty fast conditions out there today. We had a good ride and got a good lead over the rest of the on the bike, which is good,” says Berry.

Finding themselves again side by side at the start of the run, it was Crowley who tried to make the first move to put a gap between herself and Berry, but the Kiwi was able to go with her and eventually surpass Crowley as the heat and pace caught up with the athletes.

“Out into the run, came out of T2 first again, and then Sarah caught up to me and tried to put in a bit of a surge early on. I went with her, we were running pretty solid but it was a pace that was not maintainable for 21ks in the heat. I knew that at some point, she was going to have to slow down and she did, and then I managed to just find my rhythm, which was a little faster than hers. Slowly I started to pull away from her which was good, and just ran really consistent to the end.”

Berry will enjoy the feeling of victory after two years away from the top step of the podium but will soon turn her attention to the IRONMAN World Championship, where she will make her debut at the sport’s pinnacle event on Saturday 14 October. 

For more information and results on the Mazda IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel presented by Innovasport, visit: https://www.ironman.com/im703-cozumel