Eugene decides to 'walk the talk'

Eugene Berryman-Kamp is a man who practises what he preaches.

The Rotorua 41-year-old completed his first multisport event after deciding to improve his own health and fitness.

As Health Rotorua PHO manager, Mr Berryman-Kamp encouraged healthy living.

As a Maori male, he is also interested in promoting the importance of Maori men pursuing a healthy lifestyle in their 30s and 40s.

If all Maori men did this, Mr Berryman-Kamp believed they were less likely to undergo cardiac operations between the ages of 55 and 60 and would live longer.

Mr Berryman-Kamp said with the PHO about to start a cardio screening programme focusing on Maori men, he thought had better "walk the talk".

In December he decided he would take part in Saturday's Adidas Xterra off road triathlon. Friends who had been in multi-sport events helped put together a training programme for him to prepare.

The reason behind his decision was to improve his fitness. He already took part in recreational mountain biking and had done a bit of swimming but knew the run would be his biggest obstacle.

"I don't run. I hadn't run since rugby at university," Mr Berryman-Kamp said.

He started training by spending about four hours a week running to get his endurance up to speed before increasing that to about seven to eight hours. While he also did a lot of swimming and mountain biking, the majority of his training was running.

At 194cm tall and weighing 112kg, he said he did not really have the ideal "multi-sport build".

But he worked hard and knew he wanted to complete the event in good form. "I didn't want to go out and then collapse [at the end], because that's not the healthy way to do it." He kept himself hydrated and managed to complete the weekend's Xterra event in 4 hours 39 minutes, well inside his aim of under five hours.

He also wanted to complete the event without any injuries and while he did have some leg strains, he reached that goal too.

"I am noticeably fitter than I was four months ago," he said.

He was rapt with his feat and celebrated by taking a long soak in a spa pool and relaxing with friends and family.

"The spa has been a useful friend."

He plans to maintain his fitness levels so he can complete next year's Xterra in the same time, or better, and have a better quality of life so he could "do more activities with my kids".

"I will add five to 10 years to my life as long as I maintain that [his fitness]."

Now he can promote healthy living among Maori men knowing he is walking along that same path.