November 27, 2025 • 8 mins
A Christchurch Police officer is turning pain into purpose.
Nick Johnston has been an officer for many years and was one of the first on the scene at the Christchurch mosque terrorist attack.
Over the years the strain and trauma has built up, but Johnston has turned his breaking point into a purpose – aiming to complete a half Iron Man challenge every day in November to raise money for mental health charity Better Man.
He joined Matt & Tyler to discuss his motivations for tackling this challenge.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
Follow this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Christ Huge police Dog Handland Armed Defenders Squad member has
pushed himself to the limits of his physical and mental
endurance for a great cause. Constable Nick Johnston has been
completing a half marathon half iron Man, I should say,
every single day in his own time for the entire
month of November. He's doing it for Better Man, a
charity on a mission to help boys and men become
better versions of themselves mentally, emotionally and physically.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
And he was.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
This week's winner of New Zealander of the Week. He's
on the line, Nick, congratulations.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh, thank you in absolute honor. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
So, Nick, what exactly is a half marathon and where
did the idea come from to do one every day
in November?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
So starts off with the one point nine k swim
and then a k bike ride and then a twenty
one point one k run to finished the day, Sparrow.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
It's crazy how much how much framing did you have
to do to prepare prepare for us?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Nick? Oh, the specific training block for this was about
six months. They about six months went into trying to
get the body ready as much as possible to complete
the month.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
And you've already completed your half iron Man today, haven't you?
For the day?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yes, I have finished about half an hour ago. She
was a hot and windy one down here and across
at today, so it's grateful to be finished.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, you sound pretty fresh considering he just completed it
thirty minutes ago. So what has been the toughest part
of it for you?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Nick?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Was there a couple of days that you think, jeez,
this is full noise?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
To be fair, early on, probably between day three and five,
I was just having a bit of troubles getting all
the food on board, which because obviously I have to
be eating quite a lot of fuel for the day
and then the next day. So that was the biggest
concern really early on. But then once the gut caught
up to what we were doing, we were away laughing.
(02:07):
So yeah, it's it's actually gone quite quick, but I'm
pretty happy. There's only two more days left to be on.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
And what about injuries must have been a concern. You
have to must have had to be very careful that
you didn't you know, into yourself on day fifteen.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, yeah, no injuries. I've been well looked after by
the team motus out here on Lincoln, so physios have
been giving me a message of your day, so that's
been awesome to keep me going. But I've been pretty lucky.
The body is held together reasonably well. I've had a
bit of a battling a bit of a quad strain
for the last week, but just been managing that and
managing to get through the days all right. So yeah,
(02:43):
hopefully the quad can hold together for two more days.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What does nutrition look like when you're undertaking something of
this magnetude? Do you mean have you got? I take
it you're pretty dialed in on what you should be
eating and checking in your body.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah. Yeah, I've pretty much got the same stuff each day,
a lot of OSM bars and some pure dowls and
stuff like that. But yeah, there's plenty of food being
eaten in between each and yeah, I've got it pretty
doll and now. So yeah, I'm eating a lot of calories.
So come one day, I'm probably going to have to
(03:15):
cut back on the pies and the people, all the
young stuff.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
How has this been working with your day job with
the police.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I've got a month off work so and my dog's
been looked after by one of the training sergeants, so
yeah that works. Been bloody good with leave and yes
looking after my dog and support as well. We had
plenty of our colleagues coming out and come with some
runs and bikes. It's been awesome.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
I have good on them. And your dog must be
missing you though, right do.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Yeah, I'm starting massimichs. Are we good to get back
on the first looking forward to seeing him again?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And for you, mate, why has been a man special
to you? Or why did you want to raise this cash?
I understand you know clearly mean's mental health is a
big thing for for a lot of us, but there
has been some family ties to it as well.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah yeah, so obviously just through work and had lots
of friends that have struggled with mental health issues. And
also got a a younger brother actually who has struggled
with mental health throughout his adult life. So yes, it's
a cause is dead to my heart. And I think
the Better Man boys, the way they go about their
(04:25):
businesses really sticks out to me. They you know, they
get guys together and have some fun, but also weave
that mental health message in which is a good way
for some blokes to open up, better than sometimes sitting
in front of a shrink. So those guys do a
great job. So that's the driver behind it, to raise
some money and some awareness for their awesome charity.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Well they're great New Zealanders, fantastic and they've got it.
They've got a bit of a quiz on at Eden
Park tonight, so.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, so hopefully that goes well for them.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Betterman dot org if you're you're interested in that. Speaking
of mental health and mental strength strength, So when you're
facing something like that's a half iron man every day,
how do you how do you chew off the bits
of it?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Do you?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
How do you keep going? How do you keep your mind?
And how do you keep in charge of your mind?
Because I imagine the calls to just pack it in
must be big from some parts of your brain. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, to be honest, the brain, the mind's been pretty good.
As I said, I've had heaps of support from work,
so I haven't had to do a hell of a
lot of it by myself. So that's probably that's probably
the main when you're there. But now I've had some
moments where I've been thinking, oh, this is pretty hard,
or I'm getting sick of this. But as I've said
in the past, like that moment is nothing compared to
(05:40):
what some blokes go through when they're you know, when
they're struggling behind closed doors and not opening up. So
when I start thinking like that, I just give myself
an upper coat.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
And so, Nick, you've got two more half iron Man's
to go to complete the month. What are you looking
forward to? What's the first thing that you'll do when
it's all over.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I think as soon as I cross the finish line,
I have to give my wife a big cuttle because
she's been the legion holding the fort together at home.
And then it'll be straight into a couple of Frosty's,
I think a few years.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, good man, good man, Hey, it's a fantastic if
you're doing just quickly. Just did you ever see that
documentary Iron Cowboy where a guy called James Lawrence was
trying to do something similar to you. It's I mean,
you're you're clearly a freak when it comes to doing
this sort of stuff, and so is he. But I
wondered if that was a bit of inspiration. This was
a guy who tried to do I think thirty iron
(06:31):
Man's in thirty.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Days, so he actually did one hundred full iron Mans
in one hundred days. But so he yeah, he takes
the cake. But there's actually buy in the UK who
broke his record a couple of years ago. He did
one hundred and five four Imans in one hundred and
five days. So yeah, yeah, I was following him and
that was the inspiration behind like doing the half iron Man's.
(06:53):
That was the inspiration behind the idea of the raising
money and obviously I've done a few trifle so I
thought I'll give it a crack and what's the worst
that can happen?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
So you're raising money, where are you're sitting at on
your target? And how can people chip in?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
So yeah, we initial target was fifteen thousand, but we've
hammereds past that so now we're looking at thirty for thirty,
so hopefully thirty grand for thirty half Ironman and we're
sitting at I think could pick under twenty six thousand
at the moment, So hopefully a big push in the
next couple of days and get those donations up. But
if anyone does want to donate, they just have to
go to either better Man dot org oz or just
(07:33):
go straight to Give a Little and type in Nick
Johnson and the link. You should be able to find
the link to donate there.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, great stuff, Nick, You're a legend, and thank you
very much for having a chat with us, and go
well for the next couple of days.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
No, I appreciate you guys for having me on show
Andy or some things for that.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
What a great key with that is Nick Johnson, a
christ who's police doll candler who is attempting thirty half
iron Man's every single day for the month of November.
So those websites again, just go to give a Little
dot co dot nz and search Nick Johnson or Betterman
dot org dot nz and we'll get that interview up
and give you those websites as well.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
For more from Newstalk st B, listen live on air
or online and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
Follow this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Christ Huge police Dog Handland Armed Defenders Squad member has
pushed himself to the limits of his physical and mental
endurance for a great cause. Constable Nick Johnston has been
completing a half marathon half iron Man, I should say,
every single day in his own time for the entire
month of November. He's doing it for Better Man, a
charity on a mission to help boys and men become
better versions of themselves mentally, emotionally and physically.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
And he was.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
This week's winner of New Zealander of the Week. He's
on the line, Nick, congratulations.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Oh, thank you in absolute honor. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
So, Nick, what exactly is a half marathon and where
did the idea come from to do one every day
in November?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
So starts off with the one point nine k swim
and then a k bike ride and then a twenty
one point one k run to finished the day, Sparrow.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
It's crazy how much how much framing did you have
to do to prepare prepare for us?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Nick? Oh, the specific training block for this was about
six months. They about six months went into trying to
get the body ready as much as possible to complete
the month.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
And you've already completed your half iron Man today, haven't you?
For the day?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yes, I have finished about half an hour ago. She
was a hot and windy one down here and across
at today, so it's grateful to be finished.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, you sound pretty fresh considering he just completed it
thirty minutes ago. So what has been the toughest part
of it for you?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Nick?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Was there a couple of days that you think, jeez,
this is full noise?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
To be fair, early on, probably between day three and five,
I was just having a bit of troubles getting all
the food on board, which because obviously I have to
be eating quite a lot of fuel for the day
and then the next day. So that was the biggest
concern really early on. But then once the gut caught
up to what we were doing, we were away laughing.
(02:07):
So yeah, it's it's actually gone quite quick, but I'm
pretty happy. There's only two more days left to be on.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
And what about injuries must have been a concern. You
have to must have had to be very careful that
you didn't you know, into yourself on day fifteen.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, yeah, no injuries. I've been well looked after by
the team motus out here on Lincoln, so physios have
been giving me a message of your day, so that's
been awesome to keep me going. But I've been pretty lucky.
The body is held together reasonably well. I've had a
bit of a battling a bit of a quad strain
for the last week, but just been managing that and
managing to get through the days all right. So yeah,
(02:43):
hopefully the quad can hold together for two more days.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What does nutrition look like when you're undertaking something of
this magnetude? Do you mean have you got? I take
it you're pretty dialed in on what you should be
eating and checking in your body.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah. Yeah, I've pretty much got the same stuff each day,
a lot of OSM bars and some pure dowls and
stuff like that. But yeah, there's plenty of food being
eaten in between each and yeah, I've got it pretty
doll and now. So yeah, I'm eating a lot of calories.
So come one day, I'm probably going to have to
(03:15):
cut back on the pies and the people, all the
young stuff.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
How has this been working with your day job with
the police.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
I've got a month off work so and my dog's
been looked after by one of the training sergeants, so
yeah that works. Been bloody good with leave and yes
looking after my dog and support as well. We had
plenty of our colleagues coming out and come with some
runs and bikes. It's been awesome.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
I have good on them. And your dog must be
missing you though, right do.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Yeah, I'm starting massimichs. Are we good to get back
on the first looking forward to seeing him again?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And for you, mate, why has been a man special
to you? Or why did you want to raise this cash?
I understand you know clearly mean's mental health is a
big thing for for a lot of us, but there
has been some family ties to it as well.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah yeah, so obviously just through work and had lots
of friends that have struggled with mental health issues. And
also got a a younger brother actually who has struggled
with mental health throughout his adult life. So yes, it's
a cause is dead to my heart. And I think
the Better Man boys, the way they go about their
(04:25):
businesses really sticks out to me. They you know, they
get guys together and have some fun, but also weave
that mental health message in which is a good way
for some blokes to open up, better than sometimes sitting
in front of a shrink. So those guys do a
great job. So that's the driver behind it, to raise
some money and some awareness for their awesome charity.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Well they're great New Zealanders, fantastic and they've got it.
They've got a bit of a quiz on at Eden
Park tonight, so.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, so hopefully that goes well for them.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Betterman dot org if you're you're interested in that. Speaking
of mental health and mental strength strength, So when you're
facing something like that's a half iron man every day,
how do you how do you chew off the bits
of it?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Do you?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
How do you keep going? How do you keep your mind?
And how do you keep in charge of your mind?
Because I imagine the calls to just pack it in
must be big from some parts of your brain. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, to be honest, the brain, the mind's been pretty good.
As I said, I've had heaps of support from work,
so I haven't had to do a hell of a
lot of it by myself. So that's probably that's probably
the main when you're there. But now I've had some
moments where I've been thinking, oh, this is pretty hard,
or I'm getting sick of this. But as I've said
in the past, like that moment is nothing compared to
(05:40):
what some blokes go through when they're you know, when
they're struggling behind closed doors and not opening up. So
when I start thinking like that, I just give myself
an upper coat.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
And so, Nick, you've got two more half iron Man's
to go to complete the month. What are you looking
forward to? What's the first thing that you'll do when
it's all over.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I think as soon as I cross the finish line,
I have to give my wife a big cuttle because
she's been the legion holding the fort together at home.
And then it'll be straight into a couple of Frosty's,
I think a few years.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, good man, good man, Hey, it's a fantastic if
you're doing just quickly. Just did you ever see that
documentary Iron Cowboy where a guy called James Lawrence was
trying to do something similar to you. It's I mean,
you're you're clearly a freak when it comes to doing
this sort of stuff, and so is he. But I
wondered if that was a bit of inspiration. This was
a guy who tried to do I think thirty iron
(06:31):
Man's in thirty.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Days, so he actually did one hundred full iron Mans
in one hundred days. But so he yeah, he takes
the cake. But there's actually buy in the UK who
broke his record a couple of years ago. He did
one hundred and five four Imans in one hundred and
five days. So yeah, yeah, I was following him and
that was the inspiration behind like doing the half iron Man's.
(06:53):
That was the inspiration behind the idea of the raising
money and obviously I've done a few trifle so I
thought I'll give it a crack and what's the worst
that can happen?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
So you're raising money, where are you're sitting at on
your target? And how can people chip in?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
So yeah, we initial target was fifteen thousand, but we've
hammereds past that so now we're looking at thirty for thirty,
so hopefully thirty grand for thirty half Ironman and we're
sitting at I think could pick under twenty six thousand
at the moment, So hopefully a big push in the
next couple of days and get those donations up. But
if anyone does want to donate, they just have to
go to either better Man dot org oz or just
(07:33):
go straight to Give a Little and type in Nick
Johnson and the link. You should be able to find
the link to donate there.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, great stuff, Nick, You're a legend, and thank you
very much for having a chat with us, and go
well for the next couple of days.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
No, I appreciate you guys for having me on show
Andy or some things for that.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
What a great key with that is Nick Johnson, a
christ who's police doll candler who is attempting thirty half
iron Man's every single day for the month of November.
So those websites again, just go to give a Little
dot co dot nz and search Nick Johnson or Betterman
dot org dot nz and we'll get that interview up
and give you those websites as well.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
For more from Newstalk st B, listen live on air
or online and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.