Daughter inspires mum to Ironman number two

Steph, left, and mum Lee-Anne Willis will be on the start line at the New Zealand Ironman in Taupo on Saturday. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

When Rotorua's Lee-Anne Willis crossed the finish line at the New Zealand Ironman in 2014, she had no intention of doing it again.

It's not that she didn't enjoy it, it was just that it was a box ticked.

Three years later, when the 2017 edition of the race starts on Saturday, she will be there again - this time with daughter Steph Willis.

"I really enjoyed it first time, but didn't think I'd ever go back again," she said.

"My daughter had no interest in that at all.

"She's always said she'd never do an Ironman, then 14 months ago Steph said 'I think we should do one together'. She'd done the Weet-Bix Tryathlon about 15 years earlier and decided she wanted to step up to an Ironman with nothing in-between."

It was all the motivation Lee-Anne needed to tackle the event again.

"I thought it would be really neat to be able to do it with my daughter."

Completing the Ironman distance had always been an ambition.

"I watched for years and years and looked at people and thought, 'if they can do it, I can do it' and then thought 'well I'd better try a half first'."

She completed the IronMaori in Napier twice.

"Then I decided, when I was 50, that I was going to make a commitment to do Ironman."

Now 54, Lee-Anne said she thought she and Steph, 27, were likely to clock similar times in the swim.

"Then she'll leave me behind - hopefully we'll come out of swim in a similar time, but once we hit the bike and the run, she will leave me.

"We are both plodders in everything - well I'm a plodder in everything - she's actually got more strength in the bike and the run than me."

Lee-Anne has been preparing for 11 months under the watchful eye of coach Ngarama Milner-Olsen and Steph for 12 months.

This time Lee-Anne said she was looking forward to the swim.

"Last time round I dreaded the swim, now the run's my least favourite. It's a long way, 42km, when it's not your favourite."

She isn't going into the race with the goal of beating her 2014 time, but admits it would be nice.

"Subconsciously I'd like to beat it, but I don't want to finish and be disappointed because I haven't beaten it - so I'm going in to have bit of fun and hopefully beat my time."

Steph, who lives in Hamilton, has now added to her Weet-Bix experience with a half Ironman - the Taupo 70.3 in December.

"Definitely, after doing that one, I thought , 'if I can do this, I can do a full one' - it didn't put me off."

The cycle leg is likely to be her strongest, although she is looking forward to the run the most.

She is hard pressed to put into words exactly why she decided to tackle the event.

"It's partly due to [mum], but just seeing the people running down the finishing chute at the end and seeing how happy they are - that's what made me want to do it.

"And I guess having an amazing coach [Erin Furness] that's coached me the whole time makes me believe I can do it.

"I'm so excited, I really can't wait."

Lee-Anne has completed the ARC 12-hour adventure race twice and done some six-hour adventure races around Napier and Kawerau.

"I always have to have something to do - always have to have a challenge."

Ironman New Zealand was the first International Ironman event established by the owners of Ironman Hawaii.

Today it is one of 40 global events - each comprising a 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run - that qualify participants for the annual Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

It is New Zealand's biggest and richest annual international one-day sporting event, with the 2017 event expected to attract a field of more than 1200 people from more than 40 countries.

The elite professionals will race for a prize purse of about $115,000 split evenly between male and female professionals, as well as important qualifying points towards the world championship.

Age groupers will vie for Ironman New Zealand titles as well as 40 qualifying spots for the 2017 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Additionally the 2017 event doubles as the 2017 Asia-Pacific Championship for the Military Division, which also offers 10 separate slots for the 2017 Ironman World Championship.

Rotorua and district athletes at Ironman New Zealand 2017:
18-24 Rory Brickland; 40-44 Elizabeth Gellatly; 40-44 Daniel Parkman; 45-49 Ian Rangitutia; 45-49 Lee Meijer; 45-49 Brendon Loughnane; 50-54 Martin Carlyle; 50-54 Shiree Flutey; 50-54 Karen Shaw; 50-54 Moana Tapsell; 55-59 Lee-Anne Willis; 55-59 Jason Biss; 70-74 Max Bragg; 70-74 Ray Hewlett.