Multisport: Rookies pick up Iron Maori gauntlet

Ngawari Pio won the boys division of the Iron Maori Rangatahi event for the third consecutive year last weekend. Pio on way to the title last year courtesy of Hawke's Bay Today. Photo / Warren Buckland

For the 65 competitors representing Te Taitokerau at the seventh Iron Maori half marathon in the Hawke's Bay last weekend, the months of training reaped a sense of accomplishment expected to linger far beyond the event itself.

The group featured in a field of more than 2000 competitors from around the country taking on the 2km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km walk/ run as an individual or in a team capacity at the 2016 Iron Maori event in Napier on Saturday.

The Te Taitokerau contingent stood out in a striking black and yellow uniform and boasted 40 who were new to the event, including 14 rookies undertaking an individual challenge.

The most impressive results came from two Kaitaia teenagers taking out the two Rangatahi events. Jurney Namana's path to the girls' title was detailed in Tuesday's edition, while Ngawari Pio claimed the boys' title for a third consecutive year and has since been invited to train under national triathlon champions Sam Warriner and Kevin Nicholson.

The parents of both also participated in the Iron Maori. Local organisation Te Rarawa Anga Mua (TRAM) was in the Te Taitokerau contingent which had 18 teams of three competitors each, along with seven individuals.

For 30 of this group, it was their first Iron Maori experience, TRAM social worker Kahu Thompson said.

Tackling her sixth event and as a strong advocate of whanaungatanga, Thompson felt that participating with a team made completing the Iron Maori much more achievable.

She said the biggest buzz she got was seeing first-timers taking the event on and then completing it, often to their own surprise.

"Many were terrified of what they had committed to do. Some could not even swim only weeks before the event. Excuses were no longer an option once people arrived in Napier.

There was no way out. Mentors and supporters were continually giving advice and practical tips that helped people overcome their fears and complete the course."

She also complemented Perry Hanara, a two-time Iron Man competitor and veteran Iron Maori campaigner, for offering his expertise in all disciplines and mentoring all participants.

After completing the individual event this year while supporting three individual first-timers, Hanara said he was rapt about the local success at this year's event.

"The journey for me is about witnessing the change in people from the inside out.

Watching as their fears slowly fade away to be replaced with a belief within themselves that they can achieve anything and then having the confirmation at the end when they cross that line with the most heart-melting, emotional smile that says, 'Yes, I did it!'" he said.

Many of the Te Taitokerau contingent were now preparing for the inaugural Iron Maori quarter-marathon in Taupo next March.

- See next week's edition for voices of Iron Maori, where locals reflect on what participating in this year's event meant to them.