Melanie Burke

A four-year rollercoaster ride for Melanie Burke
to get back to KONA

Four years ago Mel qualified for Kona, in the last four years she's been through a bit of a rollercoaster ride of an encounter with a car! Then being knocked down by Glandular fever. It certainly has been "down to the wire" to get Mel back to KONA!!

In true Mel ‘determination style’ and a bit of a ‘mercy dash’ to IM Zurich, Switzerland she got the points needed for her spot at KONA!

Though Mel has had her lows, she has had some pretty amazing highs too in her journey back to KONA racking up some pretty impressive placings and PB’s all in-between working full time and squeezing in 20+ hours of training before and after work.

Whanganui born Mel has had a passion for various sports since she was young including rowing. By the age of 24, Mel had placed fourth and fifth in the coxless fours at consecutive world champs, and was invited to trial for the ’04 Olympics team.

Mel moved her passion from rowing to Athletics & Running winning a number of marathons and then moving into cycling & Multisports and at 32 years old into Triathlon.

Mel has competed in 13 Ironman most of them over a 2 year period. Mel was selected to be a member of the Cupcake Cartel, a group of encouraging and supportive athletes from around the world, who all love the sport of Triathlon. 

So Mel??

Where do you get your determination from?

"I just like to be the best I can so try to push myself to see how far I can get. Having high goals makes it easier to get through the tough training sessions 😊"

What's your favourite indulgent meal after an ironman? Do tell:

"KFC! It is definitely saved for special occasions though!"

What's been your favourite race so far and why?

"Probably Cairns, the swim is in a nice location, the roads are smooth and undulating for the bike, and the run is several loops around town for great crowd support. I also achieved my PB there this year 😊"

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