Race Walker Nyle Sunderland - Triple World Champion

I have always dabbled in sports but never really found the “one” that really grabbed me. After a two year lay off from body building, I had become a bit of a couch potato until my friend Jo asked me if I would walk with her in the Taylors Women’s Triathlon in 2007.

I figured I can walk 3.5km, I can bike 14km and swim. I had no idea of how competitive I could be or would be until this race. Gun goes off and it was the last time my friend Jo saw me as I belted off into the distance. 

It was here that I saw my first racewalker. Wow, I so want to walk that fast!! And promptly got onto the internet when I was home after the race to investigate what it was all about.

I was more surprised to learn there were rules that had to be adhered to. One foot must always be on the ground and the leading leg once the heel makes contact with the ground must be locked (straight) and remain so until it passes underneath you… hence why the funny walk!

I tried hard to teach myself but I still always looked like a recreational walker. A top walker from Dunedin moved to live in Nelson and he took me and others under his wing. Under his guidance my style started to slowly develop and I became quicker and quicker. It was not long until the weight started dropping off and I developed a waist and abs.

As I developed my style I started to enter judged events and soon caught the racing bug that saw me head overseas to events like Oceania Masters and World Masters Games. But it was the pull of the World Masters Athletics that really caught my eye. This is the highest level a Master can compete at. So this became my goal event for the last 12 months.

I had taken on a new coach who lives in Geelong, Australia, it proved to be challenging but workable. I would send him video footage of me training and he would critique it over the phone or skype/facebook me to discus daily workouts and style. With his help I entered the W40-44 age group for 5000m track walk, 10km Road Walk and 20km Road Walk for the World Masters Athletics to be held in Sacramento, USA July 6 – 17.

Before I knew it July had come around and I joined 49 other New Zealand Masters and flew to San Francisco. The heat was a huge impact as when we first arrived into Sacramento it was 42 degs for the first four days.

My first event was in the evening at 8.30 pm, I had never walked so late in the day and was struggling with jetlag and dehydration. The 5000m was tough with my closest competition being my friend and virtual training partner Tammy Stevenson. She was only 35 secs behind me as we crossed the line for me in a personal best time of 27:32.

Next up was the 10km Road race. This was held out at William Land Park on a 1 mile loop course around the golf course. With only four days between events it was tough on the body to recover quickly to be able to race this well.

Unfortunately for me I succumbed to a tummy bug the night before this race. Severely dehydrated I started the race with my coach’s advise of “just take it easy and if you are out in front only do enough to stay there-don’t push it for a personal best time for this one” .

Again Tammy was close by. I won this race in another personal best of 57:03 with Tammy 45 seconds behind.

Facing me now was the big race of 20km. This is my best distance and all my training pointed to this one race. The morning dawned to a perfect race day. Once we started into this race I quickly settled on the heels of two male walkers who helped me to keep my pace up even when I was getting tired. I eventually passed them with three laps to go and pushed myself to pick up the pace.

We were on the same course as the 10km so I knew the course and new where to cut corners. Hearing the bell ring to state you only have one lap left never sounded so good. It was this lap that you dig deep into your reserves and push hard. I crossed the finish again in a personal best time 1:56 and ultimately winning my third gold.

I returned back to NZ a triple world champion (only two others in the NZ team achieved this) and with an abundance of new friends and memories to last a lifetime.

What’s next for me? To be selected for the NZ Open team to race in Hobart on 25 February 2012 against the U21 Australian team. Plus to do it all again for the 2015 World Masters Athletics in Lyon, France.