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She does not change clothes in a phone booth and she does not leap tall buildings, but Kawerau's Michelle Waghorn must be the closest thing New Zealand has to Superwoman.
The Yamaha rider finished runner-up in the women"s section of the big Tarawera 100 cross-country endurance race just over a week ago, the eighth time the 39-year-old mother-of-two has competed in the popular annual dirt bike marathon.
She has won her class at the event in the past (in 2003) and has finished top-three on several other occasions too, a record any man would be proud of.
"It's such a great event to ride,” she said, then revealed she nearly didn"t make it to the start line this year as illness struck her a couple of weeks before the race.
But, true to her "superwoman” qualities, Waghorn lined up for the Yamaha-sponsored event. In addition to suffering from the flu, she also has a job to hold down and a household to run, along with her husband Kane, a fellow Yamaha dirt bike nut.
“It’s hard to train seriously when you’ve got a family”, she said. “It’s hard to find time for yourself. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be competitive at the Tarawera this year.”
So finishing runner-up to young Honda hot-shot Mary Perkins was a remarkable feat and inspiration to other females who perhaps don’t consider that a woman approaching her 40s, let alone a working mum, could give this demanding sport a decent crack.
Riding her favoured Yamaha YZ125, Waghorn completed three of the 40-kilometre laps and finished 152nd overall, mid-field and beating 160 other men and women to the chequered flag.
“It’s all about getting out there and giving it a go. I hope I am an inspiration for others but, truthfully, it’s really just something I want to do for myself. It’s not important to me how I do against other riders. It’s a personal achievement just to finish.
“My YZ125 is an awesome bike. Plenty of power but light and easy to ride. The best of both worlds really. I used to ride a Yamaha WR250 but I prefer the YZ125 now.”
