Person of the Month: Tak Mutu

Person of the Month. Tak Mutu. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Someone give Tak Mutu a holiday.

As event director for Crankworx Rotorua, he has been working around the clock for months.

Staging the world's biggest mountain bike festival is no mean feat, but before the dust had even settled on the slopes at Skyline last Sunday, riders and fans alike were hailing the event a great success.

Tak Mutu on top of the start of the new Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle course.

After what must have been a hectic five days, you could be forgiven for thinking Mr Mutu might have taken some time off this week.

Not a chance.

"It was such a big event with such a small team, so right now I'm still cleaning," he said on Thursday.

The indefatigable Mr Mutu is the Rotorua Daily Post's Person of the Month for March.

Final ticket numbers for Crankworx are yet to come through, but Mr Mutu said he had been delighted with how the festival went.

"As far as the look and feel goes, it exceeded my expectations ... it's going to end up being one of the biggest mountain bike events that ever happened."

Mr Mutu had been instrumental in bringing Crankworx to the city, and he might be getting a few back slaps the next time he walks down Eat Streat.

As reported in the Rotorua Daily Post on Thursday, businesses all around the city benefited from a bumper weekend during the festival.

For a man who seems unflappable under pressure, the most stress for him at Crankworx was saved until the last gasp.

Downpours on the festival's final day threatened the main Slopestyle event, and according to Mr Mutu "it was touch and go whether we could run it".

"I was on the phone with pilots from Volcanic Air to get live updates on the weather.

"When the clear sky broke about 1pm Sunday, that was when the relief kicked in."

He said he had been so busy since Crankworx ended that he was still waiting to catch up on all the action.

"I haven't seen half the races yet. I'm looking forward to that."

There was a small window of holiday coming up - "hanging out with my mates for a few days" - but he said he couldn't afford too much time off.

"I've got a normal business to run," he said, referring to his successful travel experience company, Multi-Day Adventures.

Asked to describe how he felt about being named Person of the Month, Mr Mutu was modest to a fault.

"I don't know if I really deserve it given all the hard work other people are doing around town. I was just running a cool event. To be honest it's quite humbling."