The 2010 Iron Māori half iron-man event held in Napier last December was so popular that special arrangements had to be made to allow more than twice as many people to enter compared to the 2009 inaugural event.

In the end there were 592 registered entrants compared to 288 the previous year.

185 individuals and 130 teams took part, and hundreds of spectators turned out to watch their efforts in the 2-kilometre swim, the 90km bike ride and the 21.1km run.

Looking on with pride were the event organisers Heather Skipworth and Missy Mackey from Te Timatanga Ararau Trust..

The decision to organise the event was arrived at after Heather and Missy noticed how few Māori took part in triathlons. In completing her first iron-man Heather says she won a battle and came to the conclusion that nothing was impossible, “You just have to believe it, set goals and you will achieve it.” She realises this can be applied to all aspects of life and wants to share this to encourage and inspire fellow Māori.

And it’s working. People who took part in the first event in 2009 came back with other whānau and friends to participate. The mantra for the day was, ‘completion rather than competition’. People came from as far away as Taitokerau and Australia.

Kevin Nicholson from Ngāti Kahungunu set a cracking pace winning the men’s title in 4-hours, 29-minutes and 32-seconds. First time competitor Tristine Emery won the women’s title in a time of 5-hours 7-minutes and 22-seconds.

Team Metta, which included 2009’s winner Nick Vaughn, took the team title with a time of 4-hours 40-minutes and 17-seconds.

Many inspirational stories were shared on the day, like competitors who’ve lost more than 50kgs in weight, team entrants who have become individual competitors, work teams, hauora working with whānau to organise teams and supporters, whānau teams made up of kaumātua and rangatahi, marae teams, and individuals looking to compete in a full iron-man. All in all the stories were about people moving to healthier lifestyles.

After the event at an alcohol-free-party hosted by former rugby league star Kevin Tamati the successes of the day and the event were celebrated.

Dave Makea won the ‘heart award’ for the competitor who most encapsulated the spirit of Iron Māori, but he called up his training buddy Steve Katene to share the moment. Both men had previously weighed in at over 200kgs and underwent extreme weight loss in their build up supporting and motivating each other along the way. They completed the whole event to become Iron Māori.

One of Te Puni Kōkiri’s team – Jamie Te Hiwi (Ngāti Kahungunu) of the Māori Business Facilitation Service – came third in his class (and 4th overall) in a tidy time of 5-hours, 1-minute and 20 seconds. Jamie commented, “Iron Māori 2010 was a wonderful experience. It epitomises Whānau Ora and I am grateful that my peers and other whānau have experienced this iconic event and tasted what I think is the great sport of triathlon.”

Iron Māori 2011 (Saturday 3 December) is already shaping up to be another biggie with people asking for places to be reserved for them even though entries have not yet opened!

For more information on Iron Māori check out the Iron Māori website www.sportsground.co.nz or email iron_maori@yahoo.com .