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When First Nations woman Koorinya Moreton ran across the finish line in the Ironman Australia triathlon she not only achieved a hard-fought personal goal, she showed other Indigenous athletes what was possible.
"It was so special when I finished," Ms Moreton says.
"My little nephew was there at the end and put my medal around my neck … I was just over the moon."
Indigenous athletes play starring roles in many sports but few enter triathlons, especially gruelling Ironman events.
That could change.
Multiple Ironman competitor and Noongar man Nat Heath established a group called IronMob 18 months ago to encourage First Nations athletes to train together, share resources and ultimately conquer an ironman race.
Ms Moreton and five other IronMob athletes took part in their first Ironman event at Port Macquarie on the New South Wales Mid North Coast on May 5, all finishing the 3.8-kilometre swim, 180km ride and 42.2km run.
Mr Heath, who lives in Sydney, says he was amazed to see his first IronMob group conquer the challenge amid "overwhelming" support along the course.
"The finish line was the cherry on top," he says.
"Bigger than that was a sense of pride in the six [IronMob] individuals and the obstacles they've overcome
"The number of cheers we received at Ironman and other athletes coming up to us and saying, 'We love what you're doing, your athletes are the best thing to happen to triathlon'. It's been incredible."
Inspiring others
Mr Heath says the rising profile of the IronMob athletes is inspiring others to have a go and he is already starting to train his next group.
Prior to the Port Macquarie event, he says, fewer than 20 First Nations athletes had completed an Ironman race, with cost a big factor.
"If you look at the average income of someone who does triathlon, they are up around $90,000 annual salary and First Nations people on average don't sit within that band of average income and we don't come from communities with generational wealth," Mr Heath says.
"First Nations people also haven't seen the older generation doing the sport of triathlon.
"So one thing we have focused on is taking an individual sport and making it more of a team mentality...and that creates huge visibility at events...it shows Indigenous people they can do the sport."
Ms Moreton, who lives on the Gold Coast and comes from Yuin and Bundjalung country, says they have received many messages since the race.
"The on-course support was insane … I think on the run, every person I passed was yelling out 'Up the mob' and it was just so nice," she says.
"People are talking about, 'What race is next?' or, 'Maybe I should do my first event' or, 'Do I want to go for a bigger event?'."
Sights set on next challenge in Cairns Ironman
Mr Heath says eight IronMob athletes will train for the Cairns 2025 Ironman and the group after that will focus on Ironman Western Australia at Busselton in 2026.
"We want to make sure that we try to get ourselves out to different communities," he says.
"We want to interact and give back to other First Nations communities, inspire those communities, but also to showcase First Nations culture to multiple different Australians."
Mr Heath is meanwhile preparing to represent "the mob" overseas, after placing in the top three in his age group at the Port Macquarie Ironman Australia event.
"I've qualified for the Hawaiian World Ironman Championships in October," he says.
"I'll be having the opportunity to represent TriMob on a world stage which will be really, really cool."
Next triathlon coming up
Training for Cairns Ironman will involve the TriMob group competing in a series of triathlon events in the lead up, with the first one coming up in about two weeks at Forster on the NSW Mid North Coast.
Ms Moreton says she plans on taking part to encourage First Nations athletes.
"I'm registering to be another person there wearing the IronMob kit and getting amongst the community," she says.
"Especially getting that next group in and helping them settle into what will be an 18-month journey."