December 7 was a special day for all athletes involved in the Iron Māori half IronMan event, but for Te Ururoa Flavell, not only was this the day he competed, It was also his 58th birthday.
As he competed in the 2km swim in the first leg, his family watched on.
“He's doing well, although he looks a bit tired at the moment, but he'll be out of the water and on the road soon.”
Te Ururoa was satisfied by his performance, “The swim went well, way better than I thought it would.”
Completing the swim in 43min, Te Ururoa transitioned to the bike leg helping others on his way. This was to be the longest leg at 90km.
He trained hard for this race, making the ride look like a piece of cake.
It wasn't long before he reached the halfway mark and was on the return leg.
Completing the bike leg in 3 hours and 36 minutes, the final leg was the 21.1 km long run.
Te Ururoa pushed through the pain while his family supported him.
In the final lap, he was in front leading the way, just wanting to finish the race.
Totally spent, Te Ururoa crossed the line at 7:27:01.
Te Ururoa says, “It was hard, it couldn't get any more difficult! I didn't think it would be that hard, but it was good, I've completed it, I'm happy, it's my birthday and now I can tick that off my bucket list.”