Eckstein stars, NZ's Moodie heads home after tough ironman series

Shannon Eckstein won a record-equalling fifth Kellogg's Nutrigrain Ironman title at North Cronulla today while Alicia Marriott became the first woman to win the triple crown of the surf lifesaving's major events.
Eckstein and Mariott emerged in the energy-sapping, hot conditions to claim the overall titles in the $250,000 series.
New Zealand champion Daniel Moodie, meanwhile, ended his debut season in the lucrative series as he started with a 20th placing, narrowly missing out on the final.
Eckstein, the defending champion, won a furious sprint to the finish ahead of his nearest challenger in the series, Hugh Dougherty, to secure a comfortable eight-point margin in the series pointscore.
His fifth series victory matches the performance of his arch-rival Zane Holmes, who missed this year's racing because of a back injury.
Eckstein was happiest to have won four of the five races in this year's series.
"That's pretty cool," he said.
Marriott added the Kellogg's Nutri Grain Series to the Australian Ironwoman crown she won in 2008 and two Coolangatta Gold titles to become the first female competitor to claim a full set of the sport's top titles.
Elizabeth Pluimers won today's women's final but Marriott's fourth placing was enough to give her the overall title after series leader Hayley Bateup struck trouble at the start of the deciding race and slipped back to finish ninth.
Moodie will now refocus on trying to win his fifth consecutive New Zealand ironman title at next month's national championships in Whakatane.
The 22-year-old has endured a tough season amongst the best surf lifesavers in the world but is taking positives from his overall performance.
"I will take a lot away from my race today, even though things didn't go my way, and there are a couple of areas I need to work on to get to the next level," Moodie said.
"It's been a great experience racing in this series - I've learned a lot and will look back and know it was tough but worth it Now it's finished, I will take a few days to think about it, then sit down with my coach and analyse the areas I need to work on."
Moodie will join his Northcliffe clubmates Eckstein and Holmes for a rare trans-Tasman visit, with the superstars of the surf world heading for Mount Maunganui for next weekend's New Zealand Ocean Athletes under-14 championships.
Moodie began his career at that event 10 years ago for Napier's Westshore club and makes a point of supporting it every year.
"It's an amazing event and hopefully well uncover some future ironmen and ironwoman, who will one day be mixing it up in Australia like me."