Most people would think the best moment for any endurance athlete would be crossing the finish line, but for Tiana Robson (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Tama) it was quite the opposite.
Together with the rest of the Taranaki Toa rōpu, Tiana was taking part in the legendary IronMāori triathlon in Hawkes Bay, attempting the quarter distance of a 1km open water swim, a 50km bike ride and a 10.5km run.
The plan had been for the group to swim together in the middle of the pack, but Tiana and her teammate Ashleigh Thompson somehow got separated from the rest.
“I looked back to see if everyone was with us and they were nowhere to be seen,” Tiana says.
It was then she realised that she and Ashleigh had ended up in the first wave of competitors, the fastest swimmers on the course wearing gold caps, who were plunging into the water.
With no way to get out of the group and their timing chips already running, the pair shared a high five and a hug, then simply started swimming.
It became the highlight of her day.
About 500 metres into the swim, Tiana spotted Ashleigh doing backstroke, ‘Just living her best life’ and thought, “Oh my God, we’re actually doing this,” she laughed.
The bike leg was where the day got difficult. She recounts the first 25 kilometres were great, but then she realised she had left all her food in her transition bag and she had nothing to keep her energy levels up.
She continued the whole biking segment without anything to eat, in a brutal head wind and pouring rain. But Tiana says that it was nothing compared to the training she put herself through to get there.
Her dad Alf Robson, who mentors and helps train Taranaki Toa had pushed the group through hilly rides in all sorts of conditions at home, so Tiana was just happy that even though conditions on the day were tough, they weren’t as tough as ‘the hills out the back of Lepperton’.
Her favourite leg of the day turned out to be the run.
Along the boardwalk, supporters cheered every runner on, and announcers called out each Taranaki Toa athlete as they came through over the loudspeaker, “I felt like a celebrity,” she said.
Tiana had said to supporters before starting to expect her at the finish in about seven hours. She crossed the line in five and remembers thinking “I actually did it!” she says.
“It was way more than just crossing a finish line to me. It was for my whānau, who have supported me throughout this whole journey,” she says.
Six months earlier she had doubted she would ever get there, and her achievement carries more victory than most people are aware.
Tiana has supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), which can send her heart rate to around 160 beats per minute without warning, and for years fear of an episode kept her from exercise.
After she moved her primary care to Tui Ora, her GP Dr Laura Hayes suggested trying a medication to support her training, alongside her cardiologist’s clearance. Tiana credits both the medication and training with Taranaki Toa for improvements in her condition.
“Getting fitter wasn’t about being fast or anything. It was just doing something to improve my hauora, with a whole bunch of people that supported me. That’s the purpose of Taranaki Toa,” she says.
Her advice to anyone considering IronMāori is to find a training buddy and reach out to Taranaki Toa. “It doesn’t matter what level you are at. They will be there,” she says.
She is ‘locked in’ to take part again next year, and Ash, who had insisted it was a one-and-done, says she’ll be back too. “We’ve got the bug,” she smiles.
So watch out for them on those punishing Lepperton hills!