For someone dubbed the 'King of Kona” who has seemingly done it all in the sport of Ironman, Craig Alexander's 41-year-old legs could be forgiven for wanting to kick back and laze on Mount Maunganui's Main Beach.

Yet come 6am tomorrow, the five-time World Ironman Champion will have other ideas, lining up in the 26th edition of the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman as he looks to make it a pair of wins at the iconic event.

Five time World Champion Craig Alexander at Pilot Bay ahead of tomorrow's Port of Tauranga Half Ironman. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

Last gracing the POTH course in 2005, Alexander has since gone on to fashion an incredible record in the sport which has seen him labelled one of the fittest people on the planet, and described by multisport legend Dave Scott as – 'the first true men's champion the sport has seen in years”.

The Australian has won the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in 2008, 2009 and 2011, and is the current course record holder. He is also the winner of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2006 and 2011.

Ahead of tomorrow morning's early start, SunLive sat down with the endurance legend on the sport, and returning to the Bay of Plenty event a decade later.

'It's just beautiful [Mount Maunganui]. That's what I remember about 10 years ago,” he says.

'What I remember is a good atmosphere, and a lot of people along the street front having breakfast and coffee as we go past.”

Now 41, he admits a shift from ironman to shorter distances and carefully choosing his events has opened up more opportunities, including a welcome return across the Tasman for the POTH and next weekend's Auckland equivalent.

In doing so, Alexander breaks his traditional mould of taking January and February as a pre-season base in an effort to hit the ground running for next month's Australian half Ironman Championships.

He says: 'I'm aiming to put out a great performance, but it's hard to say whether you are going to win or not.

'I think I'm in good form - certainly better form than when I raced in Auckland last year.

'I started my training late November so I haven't raced for a while, so you're a little unsure with what the form is going to be like.”

His return signals a mouth-watering clash at the top end of the field with a strong field of Kiwi long distance athletes headed by 10-time race winner and defending champion Cameron Brown.

Others to watch out for are 2011 race winner Graham O'Grady, Kiwi triathlete Ryan Sissons and the highly accomplished Bowstead brothers – Mark and James.

'It's not going to be an easy race,” says Craig. 'I'm not going to be using this as a stepping stone for Auckland at all, they hold equal importance as far as I'm concerned.”

And despite carving his own legacy in the sport for more than a decade, Alexander isn't keen on relinquishing the ironman mantle just yet.

Along with wife Nerida, the pair have three children under the age of nine, and Alexander is launching his foray into the coaching world with his coaching business, Sansego.

'I just love the sport and love being fit and healthy,” he adds. 'Obviously I'm not deluded I certainly can't train the way I used to.

'I still love to train - it's not a chore for me to get up and I enjoy doing it.”

The 2km swim, 90km bike and 21km run event is iconic in the NZ triathlon calendar, doubling as Triathlon New Zealand's Long Distance Championship. The swim leg starts in Pilot Bay at 6am.