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Two Queenstowners who have won slots in next month’s Ironman world champs in Kona, Hawaii, will be competing in not only triathlon’s birthplace but in what is regarded as the world’s toughest Ironman.
Aaron Fleming, 43, is undertaking his 23rd Ironman — a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle leg, then a marathon — while Charlotte Hall, 25, will be tackling her second.
Fleming, who will be representing New Zealand a second time after first wearing the silver fern at last September’s worlds in Nice, France, was awarded a Kona ‘legacy slot’ for “athletes who have demonstrated persistence and resilience”.
He competed in his first Ironman 20 years ago after a surgeon treating him for a rare lung condition recommended he never over-exert himself again.
That first one led to “a bit of an addiction” which last year culminated in him completing six Ironmans on each of the six continents that hold one.
Fleming — who has a busy job as Department of Conservation’s southern South Island operations director — stresses he is a ‘weekend warrior’.
“I’ve been doing this sport for two decades and I think it’s really, really good for me — it keeps me mentally strong, physically fit and the body’s handling it really, really well.”
Race day, October 10, will be quite emotional, he says.
“To actually be on the start line of what’s essentially the OIympics of the sport, with the world’s best athletes, is quite a big deal.”
The course is brutal, Fleming says — “the cycle goes through the lava fields and it’s known for its really hot winds, so it can be really energy-sapping, and the marathon is known as a bit of a killer”.
This will also be his last overseas Ironman — “I’d say my bingo card is full in terms of what I achieve overseas with the sport” — though he is already signed up for what will be his 15th Ironman NZ in Taupō next year.
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HEAD: ‘Excited to represent Queenstown’
Charlote Hall was offered a slot in the Kona world champs courtesy of placing 10th in her 25- to 29 age group at Ironman NZ — her first Ironman — in Taupō six months ago.
Setting out not to push herself, she still finished in a creditable 11hr 8min.
Hall, who moved to Queenstown in June last year, says she took up the sport in Auckland after doing a marathon “and I was, like, ‘this isn’t hard enough, I want something bigger’”.
In her first half Ironman, in ’21, she finished second in her age group “and just absolutely loved it”.
In May, she completed the Southern Lakes Half Marathon in a snappy 1hr 29min, but had to stop every 5km or so — “I got what they think is exercise-induced hypertension”.
Hall says she has a surf lifesaving background “so I’m quite happy with the open water”, and she has been a runner “since I was a tiny little kid”, but having done so much cycle training, “it’s actually my stronger point”.
Having got the nod for Kona, “I’m absolutely terrified, to be honest”.
She has ramped up training to 15 to 20 hours a week, on top of her fulltime nursing job, but says it was “so awful” during winter — “it was soul-sucking”.
Her heat training includes riding a smart cycle trainer wearing four jumpers with the heater on full blast.
Hall is aiming to break 11 hours in Kona, and says “I’m so excited to represent Queenstown”.
She is also booked to do the Challenge Wānaka Ironman in February — “I have to do the local one”.
— PHILIP CHANDLER
