November 05, 2012
IronMāori inspiring lifestyle change
The organiser of the IronMāori challenge says the half-ironman event is about changing the lifestyle of whānau Māori rather than individual glory.
A quarter IronMāori was held in the Hawkes Bay on Saturday to allow contestants in December's event to test their fitness.
Heather Skipworth says it's proving to be a far more effective fitness regime than programmes that just focus on weight loss.
"We basically provide them with support to get to the end of the journey and weight loss becomes a bonus. People have lost weight. People have given up drinking, smoking, gone off depression pills, have become more sociable, confident, job changes, it's just phenomenal the amount of change that has come out of people's training," she says.
Ms Skipworth says IronMāori intends to launch in Australia next year, and there will also be lead up events in other parts of New Zealand.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd