Warren Sutherland had always been interested in triathlon, but it took a poignant moment to spark his participation.
After serving as a marshal at the Canadian Ironman in 2000, the dream of one day competing in an ironman himself implanted itself in the back of his mind.
Several years later Warren watched his weight balloon to around 130kg during a tough time in his life that had seen the break-up of his marriage.
That’s when a watershed moment caused his life to change.
"I remember the day I had this massive fat moment. I was sitting in my chair at home and I bent down to do my shoe laces up and I couldn’t bend straight forward, I had to pop my leg out to the side,” he says.
"I had my big gut going down the middle and then I sat back up and I was really out of breath. I was like ‘oh my god, I’m so unfit and I’ve got to do something’. That’s where the whole ironman dream started.”
Staying true to his promise to make a lifestyle change, Warren went out and bought a bike, began eating healthier and exercised regularly. He lost 40kg in just 10 months.
From that moment on the passion for triathlon was unshakeable for Warren, while he set himself the goal to compete in Ironman New Zealand in 2006.
Despite several injuries that year, he made it to Ironman New Zealand. However, wild weather saw the swim cancelled, the bike reduced to 90km and the run 21km.
"Part of me was heartbroken that it wasn’t a full ironman but part of me was relieved because the body probably would never have made it."
The next year Warren was back for more and finally completed his first full ironman in just under 13 hours.
He is aiming to once again take to the start line for Ironman New Zealand in 2012 and 2013 with the hopes to compete in the famous Kona Ironman.
Warren has also enjoyed plenty of experiences in shorter course racing, and has represented New Zealand three times at world champs level.
His first taste of world champs racing was in Vancouver where he finished 11th out of 44 for his age group in the sprint race.
Last year in Budapest Warren managed to finish in the top half of his age group despite some more trying times in his life.
He found himself unemployed after the company he worked for went bust and struggled with depression in the weeks and months following.
"I’ve been struggling with depression and have probably subconsciously been battling with that my whole life.
"Last year was quite a challenging year and looking back to the mind space I was in, representing New Zealand was a fantastic achievement.”
Warren is also a level one accredited coach and once he can no longer race, aims to keep helping other realise their goals and potential in triathlon.
