She is now preparing for IronMaori.
"Heather gave me the confidence through positive words and feelings, she inspired me I can do it."
"She has been helping a lot of people, not just Maori and Pasifika, but helping everyone to combat things like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and low self-esteem. She has been doing that for a number of years."
"I am a stranger to her and after I did my first IronMaori she gave me a $400 IronMaori wetsuit so I can continue. She has helped plenty of others with her generosity over the years.
"She works all the time to help inspire others to do things like the Facebook page Running into 2017.
"It is a blessing for a lot of people because, by the sound of things, otherwise they would be just sitting on the couch watching TV.
"She has inspired a lot of people. She is a great woman who emanates a glow of genuineness - everybody gravitates to her. My observations are clear, seeing how the people at Iron Maori respect her."
Ms Te Au-Skipworth is one of IronMaori's three founders and sits on the Hawke's Bay District Health Board. In 2014 she received a Queen's Service Medal for services to athletics and Maori. Other awards include: Maori of the Year 2012, Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader Award 2011, New Zealander of the Year Local Hero Award 2011 and she was twice the Ngati Kahungunu Sports Awards Administrator of the Year.
She said she was honoured to be nominated for 2016 Hawke's Bay Today Person of the Year but what heartened her the most was many iwi saw IronMaori as the way forward to better their health.
IronMaori is spreading throughout the North Island and to Australia's Gold Coast.