AlpeGear.com is proud to announce that we have chosen 5 athletes to sponsor for the 2008 NZ Ironman in Taupo.
To buy the completed book, which compiles the stories from all five athletes - click here.
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Hi I'm Kieran, I'm 31 years old, I'll be 32 by the time March 1 comes around and I take in 226 k's of Taupo's scenery.
I live north of Auckland in Whangaparaoa, I'm married to a long suffering but understanding wife and have a ready made support crew of two rather active kids aged 2 and 4. I've decided it's time to set some goals and be an inspiration to my kids. It seems to be rubbing off on my 4 year old who loves tearing around on his trike and getting his "running" shoes on. So the challenge for me is to not only complete the New Zealand Ironman, but to do it in a way that involves my family as much as possible, and gives my kids something to look up to and be proud of.
» Read my Ironman Blog
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Hi I'm Raewyn, I am 45 years old and a newbie to the Ironman world.
After being inspired by my late husband (Mike) who finished IMNZ 2001 and 2003, I have chosen to take the mental and physical journey myself. To assist me to take on this challenge, I have left the corporate world of shipping to dedicate my time to plan and prepare for the IMNZ 2008, under the guidance of my coach Tony O'Hagan. My goal is firstly to finish IMNZ 2008, and secondly do the best I can on the day. It is going to be a long day, so I will be relying on everyone's support to get me through!
» Read my Ironman Blog
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Hi I'm Graeme MacDonald, I work for the Northland Regional Council in Whangarei, married, with two children who are both now at university.
The catalyst to start me on the ironman journey was a serious injury resulting in a full knee reconstruction in 1990. As part of the rehabilitation I started cycling and about the same time I happened to be a spectator at Ironman Auckland. I finished the Auckland IM race 4 times in the early 1990's and qualified for Hawaii in 1993. In 2008, I move up to the 50 to 55 age group. For IM 2008 I'm targeting an improved time, while continuing to enjoy the training and benefits that IM provides!
» Read my Ironman Blog
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Hi I'm Emma, 27, from Christchurch. I'm married to Bede, I'm originally from the UK, but now a permanent resident here, and my family live in Wellington, no kids as yet!
I've always been sporty right from school through uni playing Lacrosse for England and New Zealand, and love tri training, especially going long on my weekend trifecta sessions. I've been inspired to do Ironman by reading Tracey Richardson's story and Kelly Barber's C2C story as well as by my coach veteran ironman John Newsom and his ironmantalk web site. I'm off to the World Long Course Champs in France in July after qualifying in Tauranga, in my build up to IMNZ, which I'm sure will be a massive learning curve being only my second half ironman. By March I hope to be an expert juggler in how to manage life, family and work with Ironman, only time will tell!
» Read my Ironman Blog
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Hi I'm Kathy, and I live in Tauranga with my wonderful husband and 6 year old twin boys.
I started doing small womens triathlons as a way to lose weight. It soon grew into a bit of an obsession as the distances got longer. I found it gave me challenges, goals, and a great sense of achievement. It wasn't long before Ironman started to creep in as the ultimate in triathlon success. So finally, after 3 years of thinking about it (or should I say obsessing about it), I have taken the plunge and Ironman Taupo 2008 is the set date. As a "back of the packer" I am going to get my money's worth out of the event, but that is ok. The finish line is something to be savoured, so there's no need to run up there fast! This is going to be a long, tough journey for both me and my family, but I am looking forward to becoming fitter, stronger and leaner (lets not forget the original reason for this adventure). I spent a long time being overweight and under fit, so the reward of achieving something so big will be well worth the effort come March 1st.
» Read my Ironman Blog
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To buy the completed book, which compiles the stories from all five athletes - click here.
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