Trialthlete Matt Kerr of Tairua was defending his world championship title until a horror crash in Kona, Hawaii. Photo / Supplied.
Trialthlete Matt Kerr of Tairua was defending his world championship title until a horror crash in Kona, Hawaii. Photo / Supplied.
Racing towards the final leg of the world's hardest triathlon, Matt Kerr was feeling unstoppable - when the one thing he hadn't trained for happened right in front of him.
Kerr is the 2021 overall Ironman World Champion in his age group, having taken two years unpaid leave as an Outdoor and Physical Education teacher at Whangamata Area School to train and compete full-time.
The 31-year-old was 2km from the run start at the Ironman World Championships 2022 in Kona, Hawaii, about to tackle 42km over black lava fields in 35C heat to defend his title.
He passed his coach, Professor Grant Schofield, holding a whiteboard with the message 'Overall 3rd, overall plus 3' and the names of the athletes ahead. In the din of spectators and at speed, the sign was the only way to communicate his 3rd place in the field and the minutes that would put him across the line first.
Just 2km from transition to the run, with closed roads fully manned by police at all intersections and road cones everywhere, there were no spectators, and Kerr was "hauling".
"I couldn't say how far away she was, maybe 100m, and I start yelling. I'd come up off my aero [bars], and my thinking was, 'If I yell hard enough, she's going to hear me and stop, and I'll keep my line and go straight through'."
He was close enough to see the pedestrian was not wearing earphones, and yelled increasingly louder and more frantically.
"She remained fixated on looking across the road and zoned out. There was no point at which I believe she saw me at all."
Kerr's Strava clocked him going from over 60km/h to zero.
The woman – whom he guessed was aged in her 60s – took the force of the impact as she, Kerr and his bike collided.
"Unfortunately for her, she took everything, including the impact of the bike and me. I'm lying on the road, the bike is a mess... Coming 'round to what happened, she was out of it on the ground. I hit her that hard and there was no response - [she was] lying in the middle of the road."
Police and ambulance services arrived quickly, and Kerr borrowed a phone to call his father, asking him to send his coach, who was following his progress from off the course by bike.
Grant Schofield had expected to find Kerr with a flat tyre, and was wondering why – 2km from the bike finish – he wasn't riding with a flattie like they'd discussed.
"Then I saw the ambulance and thought, 'Oh sh**'."
Kerr had a limp right arm, gravel rash, and his carbon fibre rocket was a crumpled mess. Schofield's initial thought that was the athlete had broken a collarbone, or possibly a wrist. The pair began toward the bike finish line at 5km/h.
Matt Kerr was in Kona, Hawaii to defend his age group world championship title in 2022. Photo / Supplied
Across the Pacific Ocean, former students and colleagues from the 600-student Whangamata Area School, and friends and members of the Tairua Surf Club, were tracking Kerr's race online.
He had a lengthy delay being cleared by medics for concussion and broken bones while Kerr decided whether or not to continue.
The decision was based on Schofield and Kerr's hierarchy of goals, the first of which is: Get to the start line. The second? Get to the finish.
"I thought at the time that nothing was broken; at least I'd give it a go, 1km or 5km. At least I would have attempted, rather than calling it a day and sitting at home wondering if I could have done it.
"I sheepishly walked through the change tent for the run. I was limping, tears flowing. I found a seat in the corner and put my shoes on. I walked out through the red carpet again, in front of thousands of people. I'm limping, there's blood - you see your friends and supporters, obviously as distraught as you are.
"It wasn't necessarily the embarrassment, but you're starting to realise the consequences of that accident. Other than the physical impact, that was the hardest thing for me."
Kerr ran the marathon with both ankles so swollen that they appeared to hang over his shoes.
"The last 12km home was bad. It was super emotional around what had happened. I had lots of supporters and sponsors helping me get to this race, people who'd come all the way to Hawaii to support me."
Around 100,000 athletes compete each year to win a qualifying race in their age group and be able to enter the Ironman roster.
Competitors have 17 hours to finish the course. Some athletes were only dismounting their bike as Kerr limped across the finish with a time of 10 hours and 17 minutes.
Schofield was by his side on his bike as Kerr ran the 42km.
The coach said he learned lots about heat, cooling, and immune system function in the sun: "Lots of good learnings in the full crucible of battle, which is the energy lab and lava fields of Kona in the run".
Kerr said he was emotionally shaken and remains so.
"The volunteers are amazing - they were saying, 'Wow, you completed', which, to their fairness, they didn't know what ambitions I had and what had happened. I got my medal, got my bag and got the hell out of there. My ankles were now so swollen they were moulded around my shoes."
Matt Kerr running through the pain after injury at the Kona Ironman 2022. Photo / Supplied
In hospital the next day, Kerr was sent home on crutches and was later contacted by a medic to check on his welfare. He was unable to find out anything regarding the woman he collided with.
Ten days on, he's reflecting on the physical and mental investment that went into the race. He's nursing tender shins, swollen ankles, bruising, gravel rash - but there's gratitude, too, for family and supporters back home on the Coromandel.
"There were people at home watching on the tracker, and I had my number one next to me, Grant, my coach, with his entire family there, too. The more I get into this sport, the more I acknowledge it's impossible to do by yourself. He's a solid guy to have there."
Kerr will return to Tairua, his home for six years, and expects to volunteer again at the Tairua Surf Club - where he was former club captain - while training.
"I'm so grateful for Whangamata Area School for their loyalty - giving [me] this opportunity to live in Australia for the winter and race overseas, with the job security to come back to if it didn't work out. I hear from kids in Whangamata and Tairua, and that's unique and special, unbelievable support."
He'll finish this contract (which was unpaid while he wasn't working) when he returns to Tairua in a few weeks, still intending to continue his world competitions.
"I have that fire in me, still. I did all this prep, and have all this fitness, and didn't get to use it to its full extent. I'm itching to get back into stuff."
