Ironman Cameron Brown attributes his fastest ever Marathon to riding his SMP saddle!

The 8 time NZ Ironman Champion has been using SMP since January and in his first Ironman riding an SMP saddle he felt the advantage of the saddle most strongly after getting off the bike leg where he was able to produced a stellar run leg to win his 8th NZ Ironman Title;

“Since using SMP, both at this year’s NZ Ironman and the NZ half Ironman Championships in January I had my best ever runs. I ran my fastest ever marathon this year at Taupo in 2:43... I am just getting off the bike in better shape.”

SMP saddles are designed around the body and the ergonomic shape is something Brown says has really made a big difference to his efficiency on the bike;

“I’m not moving around like on a normal saddle, on SMP you are able to sit in the one position the whole time and there is no changing back and forth…on other saddles you are always searching to try and stay comfortable and with SMP you just don’t do that anymore”

“It is the way you are positioned on the bike as well as the cut out, you feel very comfortable as soon as you get on it, when you go back to a conventional seat you really feel the difference".

While the improvements in terms of speed and time are able to be measured, SMP has other significant benefits, and it is once the race is over that Brown says the more subtle benefits of SMP are exposed;

“For 2 days after racing I (usually) can’t go to the toilet because it hurts so much…in the past, over the last 10 years I haven’t been able to go to the toilet properly afterwards… it hurts, and the 2 major races I have done with SMP there has been none of that. So medically it has huge benefits as well".

Cameron Brown’s impressive career has spanned more than 20 years, with 9 Ironman wins (8 in New Zealand and 2006 European Ironman Champion, Frankfurt, Germany) and twenty podium placings in official Ironman events around the globe.

At the pinnacle of Ironman competition, Hawaii, Brown has been on the podium 4 times and twice as Runner up.To bridge the gap to 1st place at Kona in 2009, Brown has made some changes to training and to equipment which he hopes will see him crowned Ironman World Champion.