“My original sport was road cycling and I raced in Europe as a professional cyclist for 5 years. I achieved a lot with cycling, but when I stopped, I felt burnt out with racing and needed a different challenge.
In 2013, a couple of months after I stopped racing bikes, I ran the Tongariro Northern Circuit with my sister. Unfortunately my legs weren’t quite strong enough for a run like that, so I ended up with a stress fracture, but I had also had a glimpse into the world of trail running and was keen to do more.
I did my first ultra in 2016 and loved the challenge of running for a long time without having to worry about pace. I’ve done a few ultras since then, but I like to combine my running with mountain biking, swimming, adventure racing and multisport. I get bored doing one thing for too long.
My son, James, was born in December 2019 so these days, most of my running is done with a stroller. I also love running the trails in the Whakarewarewa forest with my mates from the Rotorua trail running club. We have an amazing running community here in Rotorua!”
Emma @emmamayoconnor
(Rotorua)
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Portraits of Runners + their stories
@RunnersNZ
