Two Scottish friends are pushing their limits at this weekend's Ironman Taupō event, competing in their first-ever triathlon.
Hannah and Izzy, who have been friends since school, are taking on the half-distance event on Saturday. Despite never having participated in a triathlon before, they've been training extensively for the challenge.
"I've never done a triathlon before," Hannah told Lake FM. "It's very fresh."
The pair have faced different training conditions, with Hannah battling winter weather in Scotland while Izzy has been able to train in summer conditions in Dunedin, where she works as a doctor specialising in psychiatry.
"Scotland's a great place to train because we've got lots of hills and water," Izzy explained. "But it has been winter, which has been quite challenging."
She added: "Hannah's having to be dealing with some snow and some serious storms back home, so it's very impressive that she's managed to make it out here and enjoy the sun."
After arriving on Monday, Hannah is just recovering from jet lag in time for Saturday's event. The women plan to spend two weeks exploring the South Island after the competition before Hannah returns to Scotland.
The experience of being at Ironman Taupō has already inspired thoughts of potentially attempting the full distance in the future.
"I would quite like to do it," Izzy told Lake FM. "I always said I wouldn't do a full because I thought it would just take over my life with the amount of training. But then I think when you're doing a half and then you get here and you see all the people who are doing the full, and it's just really inspirational and now it really makes you want to do it full."
She laughingly added: "But then I've not done the half yet, so if the half goes shockingly, then I might be saying differently on Sunday."
The friends have already invested in Ironman merchandise, joking it's an incentive to return for future events.
"I bought that much merch now that I have to do Ironman's every year," Izzy quipped.
