Putting one foot in front of the other has had a big impact on Riki Flutey’s life.
After finishing as an assistant coach with the Highlanders, Flutey found himself procrastinating, doing odd jobs here and there and wanting to challenge himself.
Having not run for years, Flutey decided to pull his shoes on and hit the pavement.
He told his wife, Sarah, he was going to run every day for a year.
Through it all — ‘‘rain, hail, snow and whatever else came my way’’ — Flutey has followed through, running a minimum of 5km for 365 consecutive days — and he did not stop there, with today marking his 488th consecutive run.
‘‘It’s been amazing,’’ Flutey said.
‘‘I’ve realised when I’ve come from high performance professional rugby all my adult life and then when you stop doing that, realising that exercise is really important for my mental health and wellbeing.
‘‘One of my philosophies is make time, take my time and no excuses.
‘‘Out of the 24 hours in a day we all get, making time for half an hour shouldn’t be a problem — that’s kept me going.
‘‘Along the way, through social media and the connections that I have wherever I am — whether it’s home in Dunedin, or our cafe at Starfish, or the Black Ferns management — I think I’ve inspired other people to get out and be active and put wellness first.’’
Flutey, who joined the Black Ferns as an assistant coach last year, helped start a Black Ferns running club, sending out a group message for an early morning session before they get stuck into the rest of their day.
While it is usually a small crew, Flutey recalled during his 300th run at the Rugby World Cup in England that about 18 people — nearly every member of the wider management team — joined him for the milestone.
‘‘It’s a cool little connection piece ... and it makes us a lot tighter.
‘‘I have awesome rugby conversations with a couple of other coaches and staff to tee us up ... for the day.’’
Former Black Ferns assistant Steve Jackson took up running to join Flutey and was now reaching his own targets running every day.
‘‘He’s realised how important it is for his health and wellbeing as well,’’ Flutey said.
‘‘Off the back of that, both of us have dropped between 15kg to 20kg, and that wasn’t the purpose of running — it was just a by-product of all that work.’’
After reaching his original target of 365 days, Flutey’s goalposts shifted and he now aims to reach 1000 days.
‘‘Another point for me is it kind of aligns with my coaching philosophy as a whole in terms of just helping people and making people better.
‘‘That’s how I operate when I’m coaching, but why can’t I do that when I’m away from these rugby teams that I’m involved in?
‘‘There’s a good part where I can influence people.’’
Coaching was a natural progression for Flutey.
After hanging up the boots on a career that spanned playing Super Rugby, plying his skills in England, France and Japan, and also playing tests for England and the British and Irish Lions — Flutey returned home to Wellington and started coaching club rugby at Petone and Wellington age-group levels.
‘‘I love sharing my knowledge and experience with people. Whether that was going to be just with my kids as they’re growing up or Petone.’’
But when the call came from the Highlanders in 2019, getting the chance to lend a hand at Super Rugby was massive, he said.
Rubbing shoulders with Aaron Mauger, Tony Brown, Mark Hammett, Jamie Joseph and Ben Smith helped his growth as a coach before he joined the Black Ferns as an assistant in April last year.
It is a massive year for the Black Ferns with tests against the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and France on the schedule.
They are also under a new head coach in Whitney Hansen, who was previously an assistant when the Black Ferns won the World Cup in 2022.
‘‘It’s been great. She’s a great coach, great leader,’’ Flutey said.
‘‘We’ve got Simon Kneebone also, who’s come in as forwards coach.
‘‘Just building relationships and connections has been really important for us, and getting really aligned with how we want to coach and how we want to play the game.’’
The Black Ferns wrapped up their third camp of 2026 last week ahead of the Pacific Four series against the United States, Canada and Australia next month.
While he has had a couple of days back home before flying to the United States this week, it has still been jam-packed running Starfish, the St Clair cafe he and his family took over earlier this year.
‘‘My wife, Sarah, she’s doing an amazing job there leading our staff and connecting with the community.
‘‘I’ve got the easy job ... I’m the guy welcoming everyone and doing the dishes every now and again.
‘‘We’re really enjoying it and our kids as well.
‘‘It’s an awesome family business in an awesome part of the world.’’
