For Whetumarama Mita, the feeling of reaching the finish line at an IronMāori event never gets old.

The Gisborne woman completed the IronMāori Quarter – a one-kilometre swim, 50km cycle and 10.5km run – in four hours and three minutes in challenging conditions in Napier on Saturday.

“It felt awesome to finish,” the 59-year-old kuia said.

“And to have my whānau there, with my daughter Ngahuia presenting me with my finisher’s medal and my number one supporter Tim [Marshall] to congratulate me as well, it was special.”

Mita has now completed 14 of the 16 IronMāori events since it began in 2009.

“It’s pretty special to do this event with my whānau and share the experience with my daughter Ngahuia, who has done IronMāori before and completed the Quarter.”

Ngahuia’s partner, Poverty Bay rugby representative Mitch Purvis, made his debut in the event, doing the IronMāori Half.

Conditions made the day a battle.

Mita said the wind was up for the swim, so the ocean was choppy and she swallowed a bit of seawater. The bike and run legs were a game of two halves.

“It was a sweet tailwind out to the halfway turnaround and a hefty headwind back, which meant head down and pump the legs without blowing them out for the run.

“I was more than happy to get off the bike and into the run leg. The second half of the course heading towards the port had a mean headwind but I kept smiling and putting one foot in front of the other.”

The best things about IronMāori were the people and the sense of community and unity throughout the event, she said.

She and partner Tim Marshall, who has done eight IronMāori events over the years, shared their race knowledge and experiences with about 30 first-timers from Gisborne’s Icons Fitness Studio, of which Purvis is a part-owner.

“So there was awesome whānau support for each other with training for the event and throughout the whole event itself,” Mita said.

Mita, a primary school office manager and sports co-ordinator, insists she isn’t yet finished with competing.

“I thought when I finished, I’m about to turn 60, maybe that’s it, that’s my last. But then I thought age is only a number.

“My whānau have always been supportive of their mum or nan and I don’t have to show them that I can still achieve great things as they are my greatest achievement.”

Her ability to compete for so many years was due to knowing how her body handled the training, dealing with injuries straight away, eating well and training smart, she said.

“And the biggest one for me is having fun and enjoying the journey.”

It was also special to connect with Paralympic bronze medallist and old friend Pete Cowan, who lost his leg in an accident 13 years ago when he was training for IronMāori as a teenager.

At the weekend, he came full circle and made his long-awaited debut, completing the 50km bike.

“It was great to catch up with Pete at IronMāori and seeing him do the event for the first time as a team cyclist,” Mita said. “Like Pete, I am a waka ama paddler and find the IronMāori event great for cross-training.”

More than 2500 athletes competed across all of the IronMāori events over the two days.

Throughout the event, sponsor ACC had three rongoā practitioners offering free mirimiri/romiromi services to athletes and their whānau.

Andy Milne, ACC’s deputy chief executive of strategy, engagement and prevention, who was in Napier, said events such as IronMāori provided a chance for ACC to talk to communities about the range of services it provided.

“It helps raise awareness and build understanding around services that improve access and health outcomes for Māori.”

ACC has been a partner of IronMāori for the past six years and has been offering rongoā Māori as a rehabilitation option since June 2020.

– Story provided by ACC