Had she not moved to Queenstown, Alex Martin’s convinced her life would have taken a very different turn. She tells PHILIP CHANDLER how she discovered her sporting mojo here, and why she’s fallen in love with kayaking
Exemplifying why Queenstown’s such a breeding ground for sportspeople is Alex Martin.
Growing up, she lacked confidence in sport, but since arriving here, the now-46-year-old’s become one of the South Island’s top kayakers.
And through her job with council’s sport and rec department and her roles in two sports clubs, she’s also encouraging many others to follow her.
It’s a far cry from her early years when ‘‘I always wanted to be sporty but I just wasn’t really coordinated or good enough’’.
With her dad in the army, she was ‘‘a bit of a gypsy’’ in her first years, bouncing between Waiouru, Lower Hutt and Singapore before her dad retired to Whakatāne.
Her parents sent her to boarding school at Hamilton Girls’ ‘‘till I begged hard enough to come home’’.
‘‘I don’t think I did that well in an all-girls’ school, plus I had horses at home and all I wanted to do was hang out with them.’’
Martin had some success at equestrian — ‘‘I didn’t think of horse riding as a sport’’.
However, much later when learning to kayak she realised it had helped strengthen her arms and back.
At Hamilton Girls’ she’d also enjoyed swimming and during her final school years in Whakatāne dabbled in running and rowing.
She had a year apiece at Waikato and Otago universities, ‘‘but it just wasn’t for me’’, she says.
‘‘I went travelling and that’s probably the best thing I ever did.’’
Based in London for seven years, she worked for an outsourcing hospitality company.
Returning home, she got a similar ‘‘high-pressure’’ job in Auckland for three years, ‘‘then I realised that was the dumbest idea in the world, I did not like Auckland at all’’.
She’d always loved the mountains, and Queenstown from when she’d skied here during school holidays, so moved here in 2008.
Up for the challenge: Alex Martin
Martin says she got into trail running first, ‘‘and then I had a very energetic dog so I decided to train up with some friends for a marathon’’ — completing both the Motatapu and Queenstown marathons.
She’d always wanted to do some triathlons — ‘‘I wanted to do some at school but ’cos I was such a terrible runner I had some not-great experiences’’.
At the gym she was encouraged by Lucas Fornes to join his swim club, and also a Tuesday bike ride.
The cycling was ‘‘a baptism of fire, they’d always drop me in the first couple of kilometres’’.
‘‘[Coast to Coast legend] Steve Gurney helped me to stay with the bunch and I got fitter and managed that.’’
Martin then completed a couple of Challenge Wānaka half ironmans, ‘‘but I realised triathlon wasn’t really for me; it was a bit too much Lycra, too much on the road and not enough nature, so someone said, ‘why don’t you try Coast to Coast?’’’
Needing to learn to kayak, she signed up with Queenstown Kayak Club in 2016 under its coach, Steve Norton.
She took to the sport like a duck to water, and also took on top multisporter Dougal Allan as her coach.
In her first Coast to Coast, she surprised herself, finishing fourth-fastest female in the two-day version.
She was top two-day vet the year after, having turned 40, and has since performed well in several Longest Days — and next Saturday will do the kayak leg for a three-person relay team.
In December, she had her best kayaking result, placing third female in the Waimakariri Classic.
Explaining her ‘‘absolute’’ passion for the sport, Martin says it’s ‘‘this incredible mix ture of technical and, then, courage, because the river is a scary place to be’’.
Martin’s nowadays vice-president of the Southern Lakes Multisport Club, running its kayak races, and lends Norton a coaching hand at the kayak club.
Wanting a team sport environment, she’s also joined the Whakatipu Waka Ama Club, and was in their six-woman crew who came ninth at
the sprint nationals last month.
Meantime, Martin’s had almost seven years with council’s sport and rec department, where she’s currently acting manager — ‘‘coming to work to get the community fit and healthy is a reason to get out of bed’’.
She’s also grateful to her supportive hubby, Paul Wooller, and reflects: ‘‘If I hadn’t have moved here, I would not have taken this course of life.’’
