Karioi woman among top in Mountains to the Sea

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 610, 31 October 1995, Page 6

Karioi woman among top in Mountains to the Sea

Keryn Martin, from Karioi, can be justifiably proud of her athletic achievement when at La-

bour Weekend she not only finished the gruelling Mountains to the Sea triathlon, but was the fourth

woman home and sixth over-all out of 356 competitors. Third tri The mammoth event was only Keryn' s third triathlon, the first of which was in February this year. Keryn 's first competition in this type of event was in February when she

entered in the Ruapehu Health and Fitness and Nitelife Security triathlon - Raetihi to Pipiriki, Pipiriki to Matahiwi, then Matahiwi track through to the Parapara road and back to Raetihi. She was the first woman home in that event. Her next event was in Taranaki where she came,

in her words, "dead last". This year' s Mountains to the Sea event started at Whakapapa with a 23km cross-country run to National Park. Keryn said it was a tough leg to get through — jumping fences, wading rivers, waist high on one occasion. The next stage was a

61km bike ride to Ohinepa viaTaumamnui. Stage three of the first day was a 35km kayak to Whakahoro. An early start the next day saw Keryn kayak 87km to Pipiriki, seven-and-a-half-hours of grade one and two rapids and whirlpools that had competitors zigzagging their way down a fair bit of the river according to Keryn. In spite of falling out into very cold waters, she managed to rescue her kayak, get back in and paddle her way to Pipiriki in one piece. She said the last hour and a half was the most tiring for her. The last day started with a 30km run to Koroniti fol-

lowed by a bike ride to Castlecliff. Keryn won the prize for the gutsiest competitor. When asked why she got into this sort of competition, she said she joined the health and fitness club in Ohakune to lose weight. A programme was worked out for her that included aerobics and using the gym equipment. She said working out in the gym enhances participation in sports and personal growth and this, together with a healthier diet, leads to a good feeling all-round. Keryn' s overall time for the triathlon was, 21 hours 21 minutes.