Wānaka triathlete Braden Currie (36) is days away from what he considers to be the pinnacle event of his career in endurance sport, the 2022 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii (Kona).

This will mark his second championship in 2022 after placing third in Utah in May.

“This is the race that has drawn me to Ironman,” Braden said.

“It is the most challenging with some of the fastest hardest racing you can find on the planet.”

Braden said his past experiences at Kona will fuel his fire to push it in the final run leg of the race – the discipline he considers to be his strongest and the one that has a huge bearing on the race as fatigue sets in.

“You have to keep yourself in the race, the field is too strong and competitive to fall back four to five minutes on the swim for example,” he said.

“If I do fall back slightly, I know I can lean on my running.” 

In preparation for the event Braden and his family set up a temporary home in Noosa, Australia, to cover off a training block and he says it is "nice to be in a location with the same heat, humidity, wind and environment as Kona and not have had any major race commitments in the past few months - it’s been as smooth a lead in as it could be".

Kona is regarded as the Ironman of all Ironmans, the truest test of overcoming suffering, the race to trump them all.

“It’s exciting, a little bit nerve-racking but all in all I’m just looking forward to racing it,” Braden said.

“We choose to do it to test our physical capabilities on a world stage.”

Braden goes into the race as a favoured competitor after a second place at the 2022 Ironman Cairns, third at the 2021 (raced in 2022) Ironman World Championships, and a first place in the 2021 Ironman New Zealand.

Braden’s world championship quest starts on Sunday October 9 at 5.25am New Zealand time.

PHOTO: Supplied