With a background in triahtlon and road cycling, Reon Park is now chasing the dream of becoming an Ironman world champion - at least in his age bracket.
After coming agonisingly close in the past, he's now back where it all began at Cairns, hoping to book his ticket to Kona.
Basking in the Queensland sunshine, Park, 53, is a long way from his day job at Timaru.
"Big shift from Timaru," he told Newshub. "Minus three in the morning to 10-degrees during the day... you land here and you're, like, 'Holy moley'."
All in the name of his burning desire to become a world champion.
"At the moment, it's all about Ironman," he said. "That's where my passion is and that's where I'm driven to succeed."
The journey to Ironman has been interesting. In his 20s, Park was part of the New Zealand triathlon academy, coming through at the same time as Olympic heroes Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty.
"Yeah, Hamish was always a bit faster than me," admitted Park.
His 30s were spent on the bike, where he was a regular at the Tour of Southland and once even held the yellow jersey.
In 2018, in his mid 40s, he competed in his first Ironman.
" I really surprised myself," he said. "I went 9h 01m, so just missed that nine-hour barrier."
Qualified for the world championships at Kona, he finished second in his age group.
"I have been battling to get back there and replicate that result. I've had two more attempts at it and it didn't go quite as well... 2019 in particular, when I broke my foot during the run."
Park hopes this year can bring better memories, but first he needs to qualify with a top-five finish on Sunday.
With an expected high of 27 degrees, qualifying for Kona will be thirsty work.
