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Silver lining for Wanaka Ironman
Local lifeguard comes second in world championships NAOISE WOLSEY Wanaka Sun
anaka’s John Gordon made a triumphant return from Hawaii last week after taking second place at the Ironman World Championships. The 60-year-old lifeguard competed in the veteran category (60-64 years) of the gruelling event, which consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and 42.2km marathon run. He qualified for the event after
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Throughout winter John trained for between 12 and 20 hours a week and had to contend with cold temperatures and icy roads. John began running in the 1970s to keep fit for surfing. At that time he lived on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula with his wife Lynette and two sons. He was inspired to compete in his first marathon by his boss in 1989 where he achieved a time of 2:42:15 at Rotorua. John then moved on to multi-sports events and after moving to Wanaka in 2007 he competed
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winning the Ironman New Zealand veteran race in March this year, lowering the race record by an impressive 38 minutes. “I’m really proud,” John told The Wanaka Sun. “I wanted to see how I stacked up against the rest of the world as I had only ever competed in smaller races before. After my effort in Ironman New Zealand, which was the fastest qualifying time this year, I knew that I was in with a good chance but I still had some tough training ahead of me over the Wanaka winter.”
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in his first triathlon at Challenge Wanaka in 2009. Before competing in the World Championships in Hawaii, John believed it could be the last Ironman of his career. “I love the process and training and keeping fit,” said John. “But after training through winter I vowed I was never going to do it again, until I came second. I loved the race course in Hawaii and I liked the heat and humidity. I had no real issues apart from sunburn so I’d love to go back.”
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