Team spirit was in the air as more than 2000 people competed in this weekend's IronMaori half Ironman.
Competitors swam 2km in Pandora Pond, hopped on their bikes and headed out the Taihape Rd as they cycled the 90km course and finished the day with a 21km run back at Pandora.
Among them was Hastings resident Anna Crawford, who has been training since May, and competed her first individual quarter IronMaori last month.
"The atmosphere is what makes it great, and the other competitors," she said. "Once you see who you're up against it's pretty nerve-racking, but everyone is together and supports each other, it's great".
Ms Crawford said the running section - the last leg - was always the hardest.
"By the time you get off the bike, its hot and your legs are heavy, and you just have to get to the finish line."
However crossing the finish line made it all worth it, she said.
"Just to be able to say 'I can do it, I did it', it's a sense of achievement."
"Everyone is together on the day, and push each other. It just makes it that much easier to push through, and cross the finish line with a smile."
On Saturday she, and other participants were cheered on by friends and family who lined the streets, urging them to keep pushing to the end.
IronMaori organiser Heather Skipworth said the event, the last one for 2016, had been great.
"It was probably one of the best events held so far in terms of layout, and organisation," she said. "This is our eighth year doing it, so I think we've almost perfected it."
The response from the 2300 people who participated over the weekend - from first-timers, to elite athletes, had been fantastic.
"It blew us away," she said. "You're always so tough on yourself, but when you hear it from people you don't know, it cements it."
After the event, those who participated were recognised at a prizegiving, where they enjoyed "delicious, healthy kai" catered by Hawke's Bay couple Monique and Henry Heke.
There, organisers also announced a new event to be held in Taupo in March, 2017, supported and sponsored by the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board.
With another year of great IronMaori events under their belts, Ms Skipworth said until then, "the whole team is really looking forward to a break".