Palmer's father, David, underwent major throat surgery two weeks ago, leaving Jason to wonder if he should compete.
"Dad has been my inspiration all throughout," he said. "He's always been there in support and encouraged me to enter today. I thought, what's an hour or so of pain, when I consider what he's going through?"
Palmer was involved early in the sprint distance triathlon over a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run course, leading the chase group from the swim section behind Joe Highton and national secondary schools senior champion Michael Perree (Auckland).
Highton set a torrid pace in the swim, clocking in at the cycling transition in 6min 30sec. Perree was 20sec behind and the chase group, including Palmer, a further 30sec back.
Perree extended his lead with a slick transition to the bike, while behind him Palmer also put in a very efficient transition.
But an error in course markings at the cycle turnaround saw most of the leaders cycle past the mark, costing Palmer valuable time and Perree the race, as he did not realised the error until past Harington Point.
Arron Giller was one competitor at the top end of the field that turned at the correct point just past Portobello, and momentarily held the lead, until Palmer came up on his wheel.
The two worked together and arrived back for the transition to the run section together.
Palmer proved too strong for Giller on the run, crossing the finish in 1hr 1min 48sec, Giller 7sec behind in second place and Callum Brown third in 1hr 2min 21sec.
In a sign of sportsmanship, Palmer split his prize money with Perree.
"A good hit out" was how Tamsyn Hayes described her victory in the open women's section.
Hayes, with a series of top results this year in ironman events, was another caught out with the cycle turnaround point, overshooting by 2km.
In an attempt to make up lost ground, she burst into the transition point to the run, locked up in a duel with Tess Molloy.
Hayes proved too strong on the run and clinched her first Otago title in 1hr 3min 47sec, with Molloy 22sec back in second place and Deb Lynch third in 1hr 10min 31sec.
Lynch was the initial leader of the women's race, after a stunning swimming stage that had her back at transition in 7min 10sec, and holding a 40sec lead on Molloy, with Haynes another 30sec adrift.
Hayes is preparing for racing in professional ironman competitions in Europe, with the Roth Challenge in Germany at the beginning of July, followed five weeks later by the Challenge Copenhagen in Demark.
