Taupō Ironman a mental game, says 22-year-old entrant Jake White

First leg down, Jake White, 22, attempted to do the Ironman course on the original date. Photo / Mason Holden Photography

Here's an interesting Ironman statistic: the average age of first time entrants is 40 years old.

Meet Jake White, 22, a former rafting guide from Tūrangi entrant in this year's Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand.

But when the move to Covid-19 alert level 2 meant Jake couldn't make the rescheduled Ironman date of Saturday, March 27 because he was committed to a new job in Adelaide, he decided instead to make an attempt on the original date of Saturday March 6.

Speaking from Adelaide, where Jake is now an outdoor adventure instructor taking students rock climbing, hiking and sea kayaking, he said he didn't want to have to move his plane tickets or tell his new employer he would be starting later. He said the decision to go ahead on March 6 was weighted by all the training he had done and also having helped fundraise for Heart Kids New Zealand with fellow first time Ironman entrant Mason Holden.

"I always had it in my mind that I would do it. I wanted the personal challenge, and then Mason said 'hey man doing Ironman is a real big deal' and I felt that I would have to make the attempt because so many people put their faith in me."

Jake said taking on Ironman and fundraising for a cause, took it all to a whole other level and he didn't want to disappoint people who were sponsoring him.

Giving it his all for 11 hours, Jake called it quits on sunset, around 7.30pm, 10km into the marathon length run (42km). His support crew out on the course were two people, and he was also offered water and encouragement from the support crew for the half dozen other athletes who also took up the challenge on the original date.

"Mason and Liz would pop up every five hours or so. Mason did the safety kayak and rode with me for a bit. There were six others doing the bike leg and four others doing the run stage," said Jake.

Fear of getting sick was a big factor in his decision to end his bid, and Jake said it was probably the most responsible decision he has ever made in his life.

"I was getting cold, there was heavy rain, it was on dark. Ironman is such a mental sport," said Jake.

He said if it had been the actual event and there had been all the support from the organisers and the vibe from the crowd then that would have made a huge difference. Another factor was that all the people that would have supported him were stuck in Auckland in lockdown.

"It was hard, because there was no one around me. I knew there was no support at the end, no-one to give me a massage. I was thinking I was just on a really big triathlon."

In the lead up to his 2021 Ironman bid, he said no one had mentioned he was quite young to take on Ironman.

"If you think about it, if the average age is 40 for a first-timer, then that means by the time I am 40, I get to do 18 times more training than everyone else."

Jake says he will be back for Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand 2022 and hopes people will donate generously to Heart Kids New Zealand.

A Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand spokesperson said all those who undertook the Ironman challenge on March 6 were "an impressive group of athletes".

"We hope those who weren't able to make the postponed Nutri-Grain Ironman New Zealand date will be able to join us again for the event in 2022, and we thank them for their continued support."