Tryathlons return to Kaitaia
Kaitaia will host two multisports events this year with one designed for the local community and the other aimed to attract highly motivated athletes from all over the country.
The two events will be run by the Pulse35 organisation, a group made up of veteran multisport enthusiasts. Spokesman Kahu Thompson said the plan is to run the local event in February, and a larger more taxing triathlon styled event in November.
The February event, known at this stage as the Whanau Trytime Tryathlon, will be relatively doable for all ages and abilities to take part in, with an emphasis on completion more so than competition.
It will involve something along the lines of a 300m swim (in the town pools) followed by a run/ walk and cycle ride around the Kaitaia township. The format will be based on the Wahine and Tane Tryathlons which fell off the local radar a few years ago.
The event in November is set to cater to more motivated fitter athletes age 15 and over.
At this point, it will involve a swim around Lake Ngatu, a run along 90 Mile Beach and 100km cycle ride.
Pulse 35 — founded by the likes of Thompson, Perry Hanara, and Shane Clarkson among others — recently took a large contingent of athletes from Muriwhenua to the Iron Maori triathlon last month.
The moniker is based on two principles: heartbeat/ pulse being essential to health and wellbeing, while the digits 35 represent Kaitaia’s longitude position.