“I’ve always run, but I haven’t always been a runner.
I ran to stay fit for rugby. Those training runs were about 3-5km max and normally to and from the gym. I remember when I moved to Christchurch for Uni, I went for a run from my hostel around Hagley Park. It was about 8km, and I was wrecked. I thought I was the fittest man on the planet, typical rugby jock mindset. That evening at dinner a girl from Whakatane said she ran the main Hagley loop AND the smaller Hagley loop. I was like no way you could have done that, that would be over 10km!
During my first year of university, I proceeded to drink more and train less. I had almost completely stopped going to the gym and class. My priorities were in that order. By the end of the year, I felt horrible. While I was back home for the summer, I decided I would turn my life around and start attending class and begin training for triathlon. That decision changed the course of my life. For the next 6-7yrs, I went all-in on triathlon and university.
In 2016, I needed to finish my PhD thesis and training for three sports was a little too time consuming. I thought I would stick to just running as it was the most time-efficient. I entered the Taupo Ultra 100km, and after completing what was the most demanding physical challenge in my life (yes harder than Ironman), I was hooked on ultra trail running.
Since 2016, running has been a part of my life in a big way. At the end of 2020, I will take on the 24hr national champs with the hope to run over 200km.”
Will @drwilloconnor
(Rotorua)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
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