Hayden Wilde eyeing overseas XTERRA success

He’s conquered New Zealand in his age group, now he’s eyeing the world when he competes for the first time at the XTERRA off-road world triathlon championships in Hawaii at the end of October.

Hayden, Year 13 and deputy head boy at Trident High School, is the current Australasian U19 multisport champion and the New Zealand U23 XTERRA champion. He recently finished fourth in the New Zealand senior multisport championship event behind fellow Whakatane local and last year’s Coast to Coast runner-up Sam Clark and accomplished multisporter Richard Ussher.


Like Hayden’s Facebook Page at  https://www.facebook.com/www.Haydenwildemultisporter.nz?fref=ts  and support him as he builds towards Hawaii.

Hayden has a busy and exciting few months ahead. College Sport Media caught up with him for a chat.

You’re off to the XTERRA World Championship race in Maui, Hawaii at the end of October – is that the next major race you are preparing for?

Yes I am off to Hawaii for XTERRA worlds. It will also only be my second XTERRA race too and also my Second triathlon as my main sport is multisport. But my next major event is a mountain race in Queensland in Australia with the New Zealand team at the end of July. Also, when I get back from Hawaii I’ll be staying in Auckland for two days then flying to Australia for a massive multisport race call the Act-Belong-Commit Augusta Adventure race, with the New Zealand multisport team.

 Have you represented New Zealand before and what are your expectations?

No I haven’t represented New Zealand yet, so I’m very excited to do so as this is pretty much my first year doing triathlon and multisport. I am hoping to go very well in Hawaii and I will be very chuffed for a top placing and also just honoured do represent New Zealand in this race.

 It’s an expensive sport, plus all the travelling – are you funding yourself?

Sport New Zealand does not help out with the money side of things, so at the moment I have two jobs in the school holidays working on an orchard and in a local shop that sponsors me, Soul Organics. It is only affecting my training a little but I guess you have to do what you have to do to get the big stage.

I have sponsors that help me such as the local businesses in Whakatane, such as Soul Organics Foot Mechanics, and a lot of help from Whakatane Cycle Centre and the bigger companies Stellar kayaks and Thule. 

What events have you already competed in this year and how did you perform in these?

This year I have done the Waihi Nugget, winning overall, winning the U19 Australasian multisport title XTERRA U23 championships and the Maungatautari Mission, winning overall.  I’ve also done four half marathons, winning the U21 category in each, with a best time of 1 hour 10.

In multisport/triathlon, what is your best discipline?

My best leg is running as I was a runner before I started XTERRA and multisport. Then it would have to be my cycling and then kayaking and swimming. I have improved in my kayaking and swimming, so I’m very happy about that.

How did you get in into your sport?

I was just your tubby little 9-10 year old that played soccer and then my teachers, Helen Dobbin and Stewart Wylds got me into running and then multisport. I also had help from my uncle as he was a runner and biker and it started from there three years ago.

What was the first race you won?

My first race I won in my age group as the Kawarau half marathon, but my first win overall was the Waihi Nugget.

Do you play other sports?

Yes, I am the captain of the Trident High School First XI hockey team.

What does a typical week’s training consist of?

Overall I am training over 14 hours a week, and balancing work, school and my sports team as well. It gets hard sometimes!

During the school term, how are you juggling all of this?

I try to do as much of my training as I can in the morning and also right after school. But if I am getting behind on school work I normally have a rest day and do it then. If I am working on a specific day I will do all my training in the morning.

You’re doing NCEA Level 3 this year, how’s that going?

At the moment my studies are going really well as I have not dropped a credit and my assessments have all be going well.

What’s coming up for you in the summer? Would you be keen on giving the Coast to Coast a crack?

I have not been in the Coast to Coast before but I am 100% sure that I will be making my first appearance there next year. First I am looking to take on the two-day then the year after that I will be taking on the one-day race. The reason why I am doing the two-day and not the one-day is to see what it’s like and then when I hit the big race I want to feel good comfortable and be ready to compete in that at the best of my ability.

 

What’s on the cards next year?

I am trying to get a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship at Waikato University, studying sports and teaching or something similar. But I am also very tempted to give fulltime sport a crack, moving to Greymouth with my uncle and working for him to get some money rolling in and do some high quality training.

What’s the influence of other people in your sport, such as Whakatane local Sam Clark?

To me I look up to Sam as he is one of the best and I have trained with him and also raced with him, and I push myself to be like him being one of the best. But really I could not do this without the support of the people from Whakatane as up here we love this sport and we have so many legends of the sport and I am very humbled to be getting help from not only the best in multisport or triathlon,  but kayaking, mountain biking and running.

Do you know Richard Ussher? What was it like to race against him at the 3D event recently?

Racing against Richard is awesome, he is such a legend and I was honoured to race against him in the 3D. Sadly, I came out of my kayak and if I stayed in I could have beaten him as I was only 20 seconds behind him at the end. But to be honest I did not mind not beating him as I was just so excited I was that close to him in the race! 

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