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When you think of kiwi sport, tyre flipping isn’t one that immediately comes to mind. But for two kiwi blokes, it’s the only place their minds have been recently. Just over two weeks ago, the duo succeeded in setting an UNOFFICIAL GUINNESS WORLD RECORD, flipping a 93kg tyre for 24 hours. Harbourside Chiropractic were there to provide support and much-needed care during the event!
The two guys are Gareth Edwards and Tom Moore, the tyre is 93kg and the cause; to raise awareness around mental health, with donations going directly to the Sir John Kirwan Foundation via their Give-A-Little Page (below).
So far, the two have raised over $12,000 from their hefty effort, producing some jaw-dropping statistics.
I caught up with Gareth, 2 weeks after the event to see how he’s been getting on. Edward: Gareth, first off, well done mate, how you feeling 2 weeks on, after successfully completing your 24-hour tyre-flip for Mental Health? Gareth: Feeling pretty good 2 weeks on. Physically, the body is pretty much back to 100%. Emotionally, there has been some highs and lows, with the majority of emotions occurring a couple days after the event, just in processing the information, what we managed to achieve and what it meant to everybody. Edward: I was there for the majority of the event, and both you and Tom looked like you had your shares of ups and downs. Talk us through that, how were you feeling during that 24-hour period? Where, or in what periods did you Struggle vs Shine? Gareth: So, my body felt pretty good right from the get-go, I did struggle to get in a groove that first 6 hours, the body was a little sore going into it from training. But from the 6hour mark onward, my body really came into its own and I really enjoyed it. I got into a groove and felt really fresh. I actually think I improved as the time went on and was just enjoying the experience. Edward: At one point, I spoke to you in that final 6-hour period, and you were feeling really good. Shortly after that, it looked like you hit a bit of a hole for a while. Can you talk us through that? Gareth: That was fatigue. We had gotten to a place where our bodies hadn’t been before. We had done a 12-hour run leading up to this, about a month prior. So beyond 16-hours was uncharted territory. Our bodies were in shock. They were wanting to rest. Thankfully we pulled through, but mentally, I always felt really strong. Edward: Runners talk about hitting a mental wall, did you experience that? Gareth: No, as I said, mentally, I always felt really strong and a big reason for that was down to our Mental Performance Coach, David Niethe. Before going in, we knew what we had to do, and in our minds, we had already completed the task.
(Right) Gareth receiving some treatment from Heath from Health Hawkins (HH) Myotherapy Edward: When/where did you get the idea to flip a tyre for 24 hours? Gareth: It was after friends of ours had done a 100km walk for charity. I reached out to Tom and said it would be cool for us to do something ‘grand’ like that. Not long after, I saw a post from David Goggins, who was flipping a tyre for a mile which took him 55minutes. I thought, that would be quite cool. I proceeded to look into the Guinness World Records and saw there was a record for the longest distance over 24 hours and thought, why not give that a go? Edward: What makes a good partner? What made you think of Tom when asking to embark on this journey with you? Gareth: Obviously you want someone strong enough to be able to do it, both physically and mentally. Tom was somebody I knew who wouldn’t back down from the challenge, that was probably the biggest thing. He was somebody that I could rely on to go the distance with me, to achieve it and actually want to achieve it, just as much as I did. Edward: Why did you choose Mental Health as your focus? Gareth: A couple reasons; being involved in health and wellness as a PT and strength coach, obviously, mental health is a big part of that. Tom being a teacher at Macleans College, he works with youth and has seen friends go through depression. Both Tom and I have experienced low times in the past and it’s something close to both our hearts. We did this to help people speak up about mental health. Suicide is one of the biggest killers for men, and helping youth is a priority. Young people need to know that the low times, they won’t last forever. Edward: Talk us through the training, you mentioned your Mental Performance Coach, how else did you prepare? Gareth: Lots and lots of tyre flipping. It's about specificity. You get better at playing basketball by playing basketball. We basically just conditioned ourselves to be one with that tyre. In preparation for the event, we did four, six, eight and twelve-hour tyre-flipping sessions, just to condition our bodies for that kind of marathon. We capped it at the 12-hours and included regular strength conditioning and all-round fitness throughout. It was important to be explosive, but also to have the endurance to go for the 24-hours. Edward: Obviously you have been having Chiropractic Care for a while now, tell us how important that was for you in terms of preparation and on the actual day itself. Gareth: The Chiropractic care I have been having, as far as I’m concerned, is part of my everyday life. It’s something that has helped immensely post-surgery, through various knee operations as well as through other minor injuries and stress management. It’s just part and parcel with my everyday life in and out of training. Leading into the event, having regular Chiropractic Care was important to me. I wanted to make sure everything was functioning properly on the day. I had an adjustment right before we started and half-way through, when my upper back was starting to tighten up. It allowed me to keep doing what I was doing. Edward: What did it mean to have all the support of friends and family, walking alongside you? Gareth: That meant heaps! That got us through some of the darker periods, especially late at night, when it gets quite lonely. There were quite a lot of people there at the beginning, but as the later hours crept in, people needed to get to bed. We had some close friends and family that stayed and that really helped us through those late hours from midnight pretty much through to 6am. Edward: Any highlights or lowlights of it all? Gareth: I don’t think there was any lowlights. There was a huge sense of achievement at the end, when I knew we had raised the $10,000. Edward: I distinctly remember the moment I told you the target had been reached, and it being a pretty emotional point for you. Gareth: Yeah, that was probably the hardest part for me. It had taken twenty weeks of work setting this event up. All the stress, all the anxiety, all the unknown and doubt had set in. There were moments where I thought; would we be able to raise all that money? Had we bitten off more then we could chew? Did we promise too much? Did we set a goal too lofty? Then to achieve that target with an hour to go, there was a huge sense of relief and weight lifted off my shoulders. Currently they are sitting at over $13,000 which includes cash donations given on the day. Donations close on the 21st of August, 2019. Edward: What's next for Gareth? Gareth: I have been happily resting for the last 2 weeks, focusing back on the business. I have a Men’s Organic skincare company, Dark Heart Grooming Co. The last probably, 4 weeks, my business took a bit of a back seat. It has been good getting back into business. I have a couple of things I want to achieve in the next six months, so have been setting plans in place for that. Physical goals, I am a little unsure at the moment. I am interested in 'Strong Man' and will be looking to get some stones, but have no real pressure or urgency at the moment. I will probably get back into training next week, now that things are returning to normal. Edward: Well Gareth thank you very much for your time, and a huge congratulations to both you and Tom for achieving your goal and reaching your target. Gareth: Thank you Edward: One final question, Not dead? Gareth: Can't Quit NOT DEAD, CAN'T QUITBlogs are written (sporadically) by Edward Benson-Cooper, Chiropractor and Waitemata District Health Board Member
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