Tauranga's Hannah Lowe and Andrew Turnbull are elite athletes in their own right but together they're a super couple in the multisport arena - and performed outstandingly at yesterday's Kaimai Classic.
Lowe, 21, came third in the individual women's race, with a time of 4hr 15min 21sec. As she crossed the
finish line, mud was splattered all over her clothing but a smile was plastered on her face.
Her boyfriend Turnbull hugged her and congratulated her on her achievement. The 23-year-old understood the gruelling impact the 70km course can have - he finished the race second behind winner Dwarne Farley, with a time of 3hr 22min 10sec.
For Lowe, finishing the race in the bronze position was commendable but she had her eyes on gold.
"I really would have liked to have done better but I did the Whakatane 6 Hour [Adventure Race] yesterday. I thought I would be all right after that but I felt it a bit out there," she said. "The new course was great, I really enjoyed it. The road-bike was a whole lot nicer and I enjoyed running through the kiwifruit orchards."
Lowe comes from a sporting family - father Rick is an accomplished cyclist while sister Courteney is in the United States with a professional cycling team.
Turnbull showed his skill in the mountain bike leg and sped down the steep course without fear.
"That's probably my specialty, because you don't have to pedal hard and you can go fast," he said.
But his fearless attitude saw him crash in a ditch.
"I was going pretty fast and I didn't really come off the bike. The whole course was really muddy and slippery but yeah it was great, I really liked the kiwifruit running too. It was a really undulated run."
The athletic couple, now based in Auckland, met on the multisport scene after years of competing.
Lowe said multisport was "extremely social" where "you get to meet people and make lots of friends". She said having a common interest was important as their training schedules were demanding. "He understands what needs to be done ... and it's nice because sometimes we train together but I can't really keep up with him," Lowe said.
She returned to the multisport scene this year after she broke her ankle, which forced her to miss out on last year's race. Yesterday's race was "pretty good" and she didn't have any niggles.
Her ambitions are high: "I'd love to do the coast [to coast] that would be cool. I'll be able to start training for that when I finish university next year, hopefully."
Turnbull said winning the Kaimai Classic is one of his multisport goals.
"We're both very dedicated people, we both won a race a couple of weeks ago, the Superdune, but this is a race I would like to win one day."
Sonya Thompson won the women's event and Jamis Dragons won the team event, followed by a team from Tauranga Boys' College.
More on the Kaimai Classic
Tauranga's Hannah Lowe and Andrew Turnbull are elite athletes in their own right but together they're a super couple in the multisport arena - and performed outstandingly at yesterday's Kaimai Classic.
Lowe, 21, came third in the individual women's race, with a time of 4hr 15min 21sec. As she crossed the
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