Plight of kiwi inspires triathlon team

Wanaka Challenge ‘‘Wino Kiwis?’’ team members Nick and Charlie Mills and Shannon Foley, all of...
Wanaka Challenge ‘‘Wino Kiwis?’’ team members Nick and Charlie Mills and Shannon Foley, all of Wanaka. Photo by Margot Taylor.
The plight of the Kiwi is proving to be the perfect motivation for three Wanaka Challenge competitors who have started a Givealittle page to raise funds for the bird.

The ‘‘Wino Kiwis?'', three Rippon Vineyard colleagues, will compete as a team in the triathlon next month, to raise funds for The Otago Kiwi Recovery Trust.

The trust works to reduce predator levels in the East Matukituki Valley, with a long-term goal of releasing kiwi into the Mt Aspiring National Park.

Wino Kiwis? member Nick Mills, who will complete the 3.8km swim leg of the triathalon, said the team had started the fundraising page on December 29, after being ‘‘inspired'' by the work of the trust.

‘‘The trust has worked really, really well.

‘‘And I think the kiwi is kind of the sexy conservation symbol but if you can look after their environment and make it safe for the re-introduction of them you are just changing the whole eco-system and it won't just be about kiwi, it will be about all the wildlife.''

The team was ‘‘amazed'' by the $3165 the page had raised so far.

Team member Charlie Mills , who will run 42.2km in the event, said the donations had given the team purpose.

‘‘You put something like this on Givealittle and suddenly you have got something to run for.''

The team members agreed yesterday the triathlon would be about competing for the trust, rather than breaking records.

‘‘I just want to finish and not let the team down, and do it for the kiwi,'' Ms Mills said.

The Otago Kiwi Recovery Trust co-manager Sam McLeod said he was ‘‘overwhelmed'' by the response to the Givealittle page.

‘‘The response to the page, locally, and from around Otago has been amazing.''

-margot.taylor@odt.co.nz

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