Now 45, Gill has won the Tony Jackson Scholarship to contest the country\u2019s ultimate long-distance triathlon in March \u2013 a gruelling 226km challenge of swimming, cycling and running.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the culmination of an eight-year journey on which she has lost 30kg and reclaimed her health and fitness, and inspired her and Greg to create their own eight-hour adventure race on their farm in the stunning Lora Gorge \u2013 an event that has raised about $80,000 for their community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere I\u2019ve come from to where I\u2019m going to is massive,\u201d Gill says.<\/p>\n
And she\u2019s done it not only for herself, but her four kids \u2013 now aged 8 to 16. \u201cI do a lot of the hard work before the kids are awake, but for them to see what we\u2019re capable of is pretty cool,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
An endless string of firsts<\/p>\n
The breathtaking view from the top of the Gills\u2019 365ha beef farm in central Southland stretches from Bluff Hill to Stewart Island and around to the Takitimu Mountains. But its beauty comes at a cost. The property is 50km north of Invercargill, meaning every winter swim requires a decent drive to the city.<\/p>\n
Every training session is a logistical puzzle, carefully choreographed around family, work and life on the farm.<\/p>\n
Liz and Greg Gill on the Lora Gorge farm with their children (from left) Emma, Sarah, Zac, and Austin. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
If the kids are home, Gill runs laps of her gently sloping 700m-long driveway. On school days, she drops them at the bus stop and heads out on the surrounding, mostly gravel roads.<\/p>\n
The unforgiving Southland winter has kept her cycling indoors on a bike trainer, lent to her by a friend. It\u2019s meant that the kids can do their reading homework with her while she pedals.<\/p>\n
The past week has brought a string of firsts. \u201cI swam with a pull buoy for the first time, rode on aerobars for the first time, and finally found cycling shoes that were designed for my extra wide feet,\u201d Gill says. \u201cWhat a difference it makes riding without sore feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scholarship has helped her buy new running shoes, too. The rest of her gear has been borrowed or donated by family and friends.<\/p>\n
Her dad, Graeme Appleby, has lent her his road bikes for her Ironman build-up. The 76-year-old volunteer firefighter and avid cyclist inspired his daughter to take up road cycling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to do a ride with him before he has to stop,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She plans to cycle the 253km Westpac Chopper Bike Ride from Queenstown to Invercargill with him \u2013 a charity event Appleby has completed 13 times. It holds extra significance for Gill \u2013 her brother was saved by the rescue helicopter after a surfing accident in Raglan. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned through this journey is just getting out with Dad is more exciting than a ride,\u201d she says. \u201cHe\u2019s always been so fit and active, and the hardest thing for him was to see me overweight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz Gill on her first bike ride with her dad, Graeme Appleby. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Her mum, Jan, also spurred her into action. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy at 52. \u201cYou just don\u2019t know what\u2019s around the corner,\u201d Gill says.<\/p>\n
Gill\u2019s new-found love for exercise began eight years ago, when her weight reached 120kg. She\u2019d been able to quit smoking relatively easily: \u201cI jumped on an e-cigarette for a week and then quit altogether \u2013 what seemed like the hardest thing in the world became the easiest.\u201d But her focus had been largely on her family.<\/p>\n
Their two youngest children, Austin and Sarah, have had silent reflux since they were born \u2013 between them, they endured seven surgeries.<\/p>\n
Initially doctors couldn\u2019t work out what was wrong with a sickly Austin, who was in terrible pain every time he lay down. Sarah could only sleep upright in a pushchair for two years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had four or five years of sleep deprivation. One day I almost fell asleep while driving,\u201d Gill says. \u201cThe GP got me into a private paediatrician on a Saturday, and diagnosed Austin with silent reflux. That started a five-year journey for both those kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
The children had surgery in Christchurch on the same day. \u201cFrom there, we haven\u2019t looked back,\u201d says Gill.<\/p>\n
Gill worries that their older two children, Emma and Zach, missed out during those difficult years. And she\u2019s surprised she didn\u2019t end up with postnatal depression.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really lonely journey. There weren\u2019t really support groups then. And I needed time for myself,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Now her kids are \u201cpretty proud\u201d of their mum.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustin was trying to explain to his friends about what Mum was doing \u2013 that I was going to run from home to Invercargill and bike from home to Queenstown,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was quite cool and our kids are really excited to be coming up to Taup\u014d to watch me.\u201d<\/p>\n
When farming becomes training<\/p>\n
As a kid living in Hikuai on the Coromandel Peninsula, Gill played netball and swam \u2013 in the pool and the ocean, snorkelling and diving. \u201cI was never a runner or a biker,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d studied hotel management in Rotorua out of school, and joined her parents in Southland when they bought a dairy farm. That\u2019s where she met and married Greg, a sheep farmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it down here; I wouldn\u2019t move back. The community is amazing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The Gills farm wagyu cattle, and it\u2019s Liz\u2019s job each spring to rear about 250 calves. \u201cI love doing it, but it means August and September are pretty much out for Ironman training. My training is weightlifting bags of meal and milk powder,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will set [me up] though, because I\u2019ll be constantly up at 5am \u2013 so I\u2019ll be ready to start my training in October through to February.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz Gill (second from right) did the Spirited Women adventure race on her 40th birthday. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
She began her exercise regime by walking the farm hills in her gumboots, and graduated to walk-running \u2013 but in running shoes. \u201cRunning then became a marathon,\u201d says Gill, who completed her first 42km distance in the six-hour Invercargill Endurance Challenge.<\/p>\n
She also climbed on a mountain bike and started swimming again after three decades. Now down to 90kg, she took up a friend\u2019s invitation to tackle the Spirited Women adventure race.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such good fun. After my second race, I asked my husband, \u2018Do you think we could do an adventure race on the farm?\u2019, thinking really small scale,\u201d Gill says.<\/p>\n
The Gorge Adventure Race is now four years old, and ranges from a three-hour trek to an eight-hour mountain bike and trek. It includes the odd mystery activity, like a fire hose waterslide, and moonshine shots. Last year, 330 people competed.<\/p>\n
The Gills have made the race into a fundraiser for local sports and community groups. The proceeds from next year\u2019s racing will be donated to the local school and go towards buying defibrillators for the wider community.<\/p>\n
It will be held just a week after Gill makes her Ironman debut in Taup\u014d \u2013 a daunting double that reflects just how far she\u2019s come. \u201cIt\u2019s going to hurt, but we\u2019ve got an awesome committee who help,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Through organising her own adventure race, Gill got involved with the Southland Triathlon and Multisport Club, where she is now the event coordinator. She will also be working at the World Triathlon series in Tauranga in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are really good people involved in triathlon. I\u2019m surrounded by people who\u2019ve done Ironman or have gone through a similar journey and they\u2019re the ones who\u2019ve put the idea in my head,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Liz Gill was shocked when she was awarded the 2027 Tony Jackson Scholarship. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
When Gill saw the Ironman NZ scholarship on social media and decided to put her story forward, she wasn\u2019t expecting to hear anything back.<\/p>\n
The annual scholarship honours the legacy of Ironman New Zealand Hall of Fame member Tony Jackson, a 28-time Ironman finisher who believed that \u201cnothing is impossible \u2026 to the willing mind\u201d.<\/p>\n
It gives Gill entry to the New Zealand Ironman on March 6 and training support to get her to the startline.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s unsure where this journey will lead her next. \u201cAfter years of sleep deprivation, I don\u2019t think I could do a Godzone race,\u201d she laughs. \u201cBut I can\u2019t imagine wanting to stop triathlon. I\u2019ve heard that once you\u2019ve done an Ironman, you\u2019re like, right, what do I do next? Maybe it will take me overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does Gill imagine her children will follow in her footsteps? Not any time soon. \u201cI think you need to go through life and appreciate what you can do before you attempt something like this,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll look at what I\u2019ve done and see what\u2019s possible with consistency and belief.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the support of my community and the base I\u2019ve built, I feel ready to take on this challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n