Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Icebreaker has our very own Ironman - Makuini Warbrick!

Being a single girl I was devoting too much time to work! So I decided I needed something in my life that would 1) keep me to normal work hours 2) be a goal big enough I couldn’t fake 3) be a goal big enough that I couldn’t leave it to the last minute 4) take care of my health.  Ironman fit the bill.

I’ve thought for a long time that Ironman was cool and would be an awesome feat but that it was for someone else.  Then I found myself needing a goal above and found my reason to do Ironman.  I’m not a girl who has exercise on the brain - in fact my brain is not wired like that in the slightest, but working at Icebreaker, well, I’m surrounded by crazy people who’ve swept me up into their world of exercise and competing in events.

I decided to do this 48 weeks out from Ironman NZ, 7 March 2009. My training included lots of swimming, biking and jogging - I’m a swimmer so I loved the swimming part.  I hadn’t been on a bike for 10 years, so buying a bike and learning how to ride a road bike was interesting and ultimately I came to like it. Running, on the other hand, I didn’t like - and only had a major mental breakthrough just 6 weeks before Ironman.

Most of my training was by myself (others at work were training for an event 3 weeks before mine).  I did have a cycle group I rode with on a Sunday that brought my bike fitness from 0 to 1.5hrs.  Most of the inspiring athletes at Icebreaker are faster than me, but I was game and went out a few times on the bike with them.  A friend from work, an ex-swimmer, became my swim training buddy which was vital in getting started cause having someone waiting for you at 6am was another good reason to train the body to get up at 5.30am.  I ended up joining a swim squad and found other crazy people with the same goal.

Before Ironman day, I had completed two half Ironmans, so the longest run I covered was 21km and the longest training ride I did was 130km. 

Ironman was fabulous - I had a great day.  An Ironman couple (both completed Ironman 2007) made a point to tell me to ‘make sure you enjoy the day. You’ve done all this training so enjoy the whole day!’

I DID IT!  I have great friends at Icebreaker and was privileged to have 10 of them make their way to Taupo to support me. I had a brief moment where I spazzed out at my brother cause he made a comment I didn’t like, but other than that - all good.

Training for 48 weeks is a LONG time so having people around asking how my training was going helped keep me on track.  The flip side to having lots of people know what your goal is, is that you can’t wimp out.  I was doing the Rotorua Half Ironman event and was having a tough time on the bike and wanted to give up, but what kept me going was that one of the guys from work did Around Taupo with an arm in a cast so the only viable reason not to finish was that I was in hospital and I wasn’t prepared to go to those lengths!  So some days you have to suck it up, others you enjoy, and once you’re in the finish chute of Ironman, you forget about it all.

Coming down the finish chute I was extremely happy and proud plus amazed that I was still in good form and spirits.  All that hard work, $$ spent, knowledge gained had paid off - I fulfilled my goal - I am an Ironman.  WOW! 

One of my favourite quotes is ‘define success in terms of your own potential’ I didn’t break any records, but my goal was to complete Ironman - and I did.  Now I wonder what other potential I have in me?

- Makuini Warbrick, Icebreaker Head Office

Recently in head office a star was born.  We had the 4th annual ‘Great Icebreaker Cake Bake Off’, and we found the next Nigella Lawson.

There were carrot cakes, raspberry drenched chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, Swiss apple cakes, and even a ‘Dolly’ cake.  It was spectacular.

All entries were judged meticulously by the famous chefs Steve Logan and Al Brown (from Wellington restaurant Logan Brown and stars of the TV series ‘Hunger for the Wild‘).

Our design project manger Sarah took out the top two awards - her apple and date cake was voted # 1 by Steve and Al, and she was also the People’s Choice Winner.  What a star!

We’ve put a challenge out to the rest of the Icbreaker offices around the world to see if they can bake cakes tastier than head office.  So far we’ve got one entry from our Christchurch office, the Pengu cake - we love it and can’t wait to see what everyone else will bake.

We gave journalists from HB Media some of our Bodyfit+ tops to try out while they completed the Oxfam Trailwalker.

“A big thanks for the Icebreaker tops for the Oxfam Trailwalker!

We walked non-stop and finished the 100km in 31 hours, and miraculously the tops still smelt reasonable! I did have blisters the size of golf balls – and there were a few issues wearing shoes for the next couple of days!

Here are some photos of us – or check out our team blog here.

Kind regards,
Lauren Bartlett, HB Media”

In March, a team of us were lucky enough to head down south to participate in and support the 2009 Icebreaker Motatapu mountain bike/marathon race.  At times, it was a pretty daunting experience (to say the least), but the awesome location with it’s mind blowing scenery ensured it was one race we wouldn’t forget in a long time.

“A call went out to our office to sign up for the iconic South Island event at Motatapu. I now had an incentive to attempt my first marathon after a lifetime’s love of beer and pizza.

The big day arrived and on a chilly March morning I was standing in line with about 500 other intrepid runners. The gun sounded and elite athletes bounded away from the start line followed by us less elite souls. Pretty soon the field had opened up along a narrow ribbon of track winding across the glorious landscape and the cold morning had given way to a bright, sunny day.

The remainder of the run was full of awesome scenery, a challenging track and an occasional wake up call from a very cold Motatapu river. During the final 2km supporters began to appear along the route. Their shouted encouragement lifted my flagging pace and it was great to see our own Icebreaker crew cheering and waving banners at the final approach.

I had actually completed a marathon and it felt fantastic. It was fun swapping stories with the team and everyone was still buzzing when we went on to celebrate that evening with beer and pizza. Back to square one? Maybe!”.

- Bill Powell, Mac operator

“For 25kms I ran and enjoyed the incredible scenery.  For another 10kms I walked, then hobbled while trying to keep my spirits up and my legs moving.  Then…..35k into it, I sat down and cried.   Everything was hurting and I had nothing left to give.  What a crap time I was having!

Then I remembered something my mum said to me when we were in Cambodia over Christmas: “Aren’t you lucky, Sarany, not to be stuck on the streets of Cambodia, begging”.  Wandering through the most beautiful landscape, running in the name of the coolest company to help unfortunate children buy food and clothes is not a crap situation to be in.

So I grabbed hold of my second wind and ran with it. That wind delivered me to the finish line in a time of 5 hours 51 minutes, where I collapsed in a heap and cried my little heart out.”

- Sarany Pan, Financial Systems Analyst

“Crossing the finish line at Motatapu was quite possibly the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had. Even though it was at least 3 hours after most of the Icebreaker team finished, it didn’t matter. For me, Motatapu was a massive achievement, having never done anything like it before. After joining Icebreaker 12 months earlier and wanting to get into the team spirit of things, I decided Motatapu was a case of ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ and I’m so glad I did.”

- Sarah O’Leary, Design Project Manager