I am a 48 years old and a registered nurse at Dunedin Hospital on the cardiac/respiratory ward and coronary care unit. My partner Jen is doing the run section of the Wanaka Half in a team. I have 2 sons Will and Archie. I have a background in running, (probably done about 30 half marathons)but have done less since my sons were born and now I am painfully slow. I did Challenge last year and while I found the 1st 600 metres of the swim tough I felt good for the last 2/3rds and had a comfortable ride. I was also happy with my runup to the 10 k mark but then the cramps hit.
So the plan was to train better this year and improve my time and hopefully go under 6 hours. However best laid plans and all that - a hamstring tear and other circumstances have seen me down on training, however I will still give it a whirl. So as long as the aging body holds out I will be at the start line in January, and struggle through to the finish some 6 or so hours later.