"All I was thinking about was a good lie down in bed,'' he said.
The 72-year-old Auckland real estate company director finished his race yesterday morning, after setting out on the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, and 42km run at 7am on Saturday.
Along the way he endured a head-on collision in Lake Wanaka with a team event swimmer - they set off two hours after individual competitors - and was also rear-ended by a cyclist during the bike.
"We both had our heads down biking into a strong wind. I was going pretty slow and minding my own business, when I got collected from behind,''
He picked himself up off the road to battle on with "more than a few cuts and bruises,'' he said.
"It was a relief to get there.''
Barfoot's time of 17hr 36min, was almost an hour longer than his previous individual time of 16hr 28min at the same race, in 2007.
However, extra motivation was at hand for the final stretch of the race as he rounded the last corner to see a 100-plus crowd still waiting - at midnight - to cheer him on.
Surprisingly, he said he was not exhausted and described the crowd's support as uplifting.
An "avenue of raised arms,'' caused him some consternation.
"I thought I'd get hit on the head [again]. But, as I ran on they lifted for me,'' he said.
