For a woman who'd just ridden 1280km and had less than seven hours sleep in three days, Christine Couldrey looked remarkably fresh.
The Raglan scientist says after spending 72 hours and 21 minutes making eight laps of Lake Taupo as an extreme enduro cyclist in this year's Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge last Saturday, she felt "knackered" but the epic ride was "a whole lot better" than she had expected.
"I enjoyed it a whole lot; most of it anyway. There were a few not-so-good bits," said Dr Couldrey, only moments after a rapturous welcome from the crowd as she crossed the finish line.
The doctor set off on her eight laps last Wednesday at noon and finished just after midday Saturday, having had very little sleep.
"I slept for 45 minutes on Thursday morning and I had time to give myself the luxury of three hours sleep Friday morning and three hours last night."