2005 Vegan Women's Triathlon

Photos

Inspired by media images of energetic women around New Zealand participating in triathlons, we decided to organise our own vegan women�s triathlon in Christchurch. An original four women initiated the event; then numbers swelled to 12. On the day, it was eight who showed for the event, plus a significant support crew of friends and family to organise timings, rack the bikes and baby sit.

We organised this triathlon ourselves, each taking responsibility for the t-shirt production, setting the bike ride route and so on. With such a small group, we didn�t need to book in at QE2. This gave us flexibility and allowed for late arrivals to participate! Because we only wanted a small field of participants, we kept it vegan simply because all the organisers happened to be vegan.

The event took place on a sunny Christchurch Sunday, February 20th at QE2 Park. There were a few of us, myself included, who had never competed in a triathlon before. Admittedly, my main motivation was to get the t-shirt which had been specially designed for the day! Experience varied from complete novices (like me!) to veteran triathletes who knew what they were doing and led the field. The age range ran from ten to 41 year old vegans.

The event had been organised to cater for the wide range of abilities. Participants could swim or aqua jog 100 or 200 metres, then cycle 5 or 10 kms, followed by a run of 2.1 kms. Being my first triathlon, I took the easiest of all the options and was surprised at how well I managed. I thought to myself afterwards "Next year I will definitely do the extended swim and bike ride."

The event finished with dinner at Mainstreet vegetarian restaurant for participants and support crew.

Yolanda Soryl

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