KEY POINTS:
An ironman spectator was killed and her husband injured after a delivery truck hit them on the course of the gruelling endurance race in Taupo yesterday.
The impact killed Havelock North cyclist Hilary Evelyn Haward, 57, instantly and threw her husband Brinley Haward, 58, from his bike on to the grass verge with a dislocated shoulder and cuts.
It has led to an investigation by police into the cause of the accident, with one officer already speculating that driver "fatigue and inattention" were likely factors.
The accident happened at 9.20am, just after the Ironman race began. About 20,000 people were in Taupo for the event, which sees more than 1000 people from 37 countries swim for 3.8km, cycle 180km and finish with a 42km run.
Less than an hour after the accident, race cyclists were riding past the scene at the corner of Spa Rd and Rotokawa St.
Witnesses watched in horror as the bakery truck hit the couple on the straight stretch of road, driving over the top of Hilary Haward and flinging her husband on to the grassy kerb.
Ironman official Trina Kingi was directing traffic on the corner, directly opposite where the crash occurred.
"All I saw was the truck go straight over the top of them. I shot across the road to see what I could do but it was too late for the woman.
"I just got everybody to stand back and not touch the body. There wasn't much we could do."
A few houses down, Tim Garmonsway was taking care of his two toddlers when he "heard a bang like a gunshot".
"Everyone was freaking out because it seemed like the ambulance was taking forever but it was probably only 10 minutes," he said.
"One family in a 4X4 were the first ones to stop. They had kids in the back and they started vomiting when they saw the bodies."
Teenager Julie-Anne Habib said the cycles were "completely munted", the metal frames twisted and bent from the impact of the collision.
When the truck hit, the couple were five minutes from their room at the Lake Taupo Top 10 Holiday Resort.
Taupo crash analyst senior constable Peter Sowter said the couple had cycled from the camping ground to watch the start of the race.
As they returned to the camp site "minding their own business" they were struck from behind by the delivery van driven by a 31-year-old on a straight stretch of road.
"It doesn't look like speed was a factor, I would think probably fatigue and inattention.
"It was an early morning delivery driver so he's done a lot of work up to that point.
"He just hasn't seen them and collected them from behind and hit them. It's just starting to hit him now, just sinking in for him, it was too surreal at first. It's just a tragedy really, for them and for him."
Senior Sergeant Murray Hamilton said the driver of the light truck was in shock. He said inquiries were focusing on where on the road the cyclists and the truck were at the time of the crash, and that charges were "definitely" being considered.
Brinley Haward is secretary of the Havelock North Rotary Club. Club president Mike Konig yesterday spoke of a "wonderful couple" who both adored the outdoors and were into all sorts of sports.
Brinley Haward had retired a couple of years ago and the couple had just built their dream home, in Havelock North's sought-after Duart Rd.
They had moved to the area from Plimmerton, on the Kapiti Coast, in October.
"Both of them are very keen golfers, they are outdoorsy people," he said.
"He's a wonderful guy, always positive and always had a laugh about things. She was a lovely person. Thisis devastating."
Immediate past president of the club, David Ward, said Brinley Haward was an active Rotarian who had previously held a district position.
"He had been a very successful businessman and they retired here."
Family members are today on their way from Wellington to Taupo and Rotorua.
The delivery truck belonged to Fresh Bake, a small Taupo bakery owned by Simon Joyner and wife Tracy, who said: "It's an absolutely devastating thing to have happened. Everyone here is just devastated."
Gail Joyner, Simon Joyner's stepmother, described the driver of the van as a "good guy" who had worked for Fresh Bake for about two years.
"He comes in very early to get everything ready, and starts deliveries about 6am," she said.
"He's not one to push it, he just takes his time."
