In the great tradition of Kiwi adventurers, skateboarder Rob Thomson is back in the country after having completed the longest skateboard journey ever recorded – 12,000 km across Europe, the USA and China.
What does it take to travel under your own power for so long? Does it make Rob Thomson an elite endurance athlete?
Rob took himself and his board to be tested by the New Zealand Academy of Sport.
The epic solo journey took Rob more than 12 months. When he got back to New Zealand, he was curious about what it had done to his body.
New Zealand Academy of Sport physiologist Joe McQuillan agreed to test Rob to see if he had become super fit.
It is the first time anybody has skateboarded for more than six months in a row, so physical endurance data does not exist for that kind of discipline.
The tests included a skin fold test and a strength test, but the key test involved something the Academy of Sport has not done before - pushing Rob to his aerobic limit - using his skateboard on a treadmill.
The results showed he was probably at the same fitness level as someone who competed in iron mans in their spare time, but did not focus on it completely.
Rob was not surprised he would not be considered an elite athlete, as he could take breaks whenever he felt like it on the journey.
“My focus was to travel by skateboard in a human powered way an environmentally friendly way but still have enough energy to communicate with the local people,” she said.
Now he is back in New Zealand, Rob intends to find a job at home in Christchurch.