Introducing Helen Kay: an Ironman Champion in our midst!

On Saturday 5th March 2011, while most of us were savouring our flat white and eggs benedict, one of the team at Frog (along with 1300 others) was zipped into her tri-suit and competing in the gruelling Ironman Competition held annually in Taupo. And gruelling it was this year; it rained and rained and rained. So much so that around 50 people pulled out during the event.

But not Helen Kay, one of our consultants at Frog! ‘Stamina personified’ is Helen.

Helen finished the event (3.8km swim & 180km cycle & 42.2km run) in 10.40 hours. This placed her an impressive 3rd place in her age group AND 1.5 hours ahead of her personal time last year!

This stunning result was the accumulation of a rigorous year of training, copious amounts of tuna salad and Helen managing 25+ hours training a week in the run up to the big competition... on top of her normal workload!

As a result of her times and placements in events throughout the season – Helen has been selected to represent NZ in Nevada, USA in November 2011, to compete in the ITU World Long Distance Triathlon Championships.

Also on the competition list are Challenge Wanaka Half Ironman in January 2012, Taupo Ironman (3rd time) March 2012, to name but a few.

When asked about the most important contributors to her success (apart from her gutzy determination), Helen says is was the support network around her; from her husband Pete, to friends, boss and co-workers. Her advice to any aspiring athletes is: “Surround yourself with the right people, create a training timetable that works for you and strive to find the right balance between training and working.”

Congratulations to you Helen - and all the best for the lead up to Nevada!