A family challenge

DEBUT: Polly Barach will line up with her dad Brian at Taupo to do her first Ironman New Zealand on Saturday. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM It was only natural Whangarei traffic warden Polly Barach would one day end up doing a full ironman. After all, she grew up watching her mother, Oringa, and father, Brian, slog it out over huge distances many times - and last year, her older sister Alice completed her first ironman race at Taupo.
So, Polly, 26, decided 2011 was her year to give it a crack, and began the painstaking training regime last August aiming for the Bonita Ironman NZ at Taupo on Saturday.
"Six-hour rides on the weekend, and getting up at 5.30am in the mornings to run, swim or ride - and training again after work. Fridays were days off - yay ... also I haven't had an alcoholic drink since January ... which doesn't seem long, but after a hard day at work it is always nice to wind down with a beer.
"Training takes over your life and I will be glad when it is all over ... so will my partner [Cole Edwardson], I think," she said.
When she lines up for the swim on Taupo's lakeside, Barach won't be alone - her dad Brian will be among the 1500 competitors from 40 countries as he contests his seventh Ironman NZ.
Her mother was also scheduled to compete for the seventh time but has been ill with a chest infection and was unlikely to start, Barach said.
Growing up watching her parents do the event inspired her and she said it was inevitable she would one day get around to completing the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run around Taupo.
"It's motivating seeing other people do it - just the magnitude of it all - it's not a normal thing to do," she said.
Coming from a swimming background, Barach said she should have a slight edge over her dad in that section, but she expected he would have caught up with her on the bike at the 50km mark.
The family have spent many hours out riding together over the past few months, which "was a good thing for us to do," Barach said. She added she was feeling pretty good about competing - her bike leg was strong and her run had improved "heaps". Now it would come down to controlling her nerves.
While Polly has run two marathons, she has not done a half ironman before, deciding it would be best to go the "whole hog" to begin with.
"I just want to finish being my first one ... I'm not really sure about what time I will do at all ... and I will tell you after I finish whether I will do another one."
After Saturday, the pressure would be well and truly on Toby, Alice and Polly's brother - who is yet to attempt the event.
A day of eating pasta and carbo-loading is scheduled tomorrow when competitors register and weigh in.
Paparoa's Raymon Woolford will also be contesting his first Ironman NZ on Saturday, along with Hikurangi's Barbara Goodwin. Other Northlanders competing are Suzanne Galloway of Kensington, Hide Hashimoto from Raumanga and Graeme MacDonald of Maungatpere, who will be competing for the 11th time.