Mike and Sue Reid prepare to transition from Ironman Australia Local Organising committee to spectators

But an almost three-decade-long involvement with the event that stretches back to its Forster days 28 years ago is now approaching the finish line.

The duo have covered some ground - there was also a three-year stint with what was an Australian championship triathlon event before the last 15 years with Ironman in Port Macquarie.

They both admit now is the time to relinquish what they loosely describe as their "baby".

"Handing it over is a bit of a game of trust and we wouldn't back down if we didn't trust who was going to come as part of our succession plan," Sue said.

"It's like our baby and you just can't walk away and think 'we've had enough now, let's go' - it's not like that at all."

Port Macquarie has been host to the Ironman each year since 2006 and is considered to be one of the best triathlon events in the world with a strong base of volunteer and community spirit at its foundation.

Mike has been LOC chairman for most of that time, but he admits the time has come to step aside with fond memories of his time in the chair.

He is more than happy to pass some of that knowledge on.

"You can't just walk away and there's so much to do that you can't write it all down so you've got to be there to solve things as it all happens."

But he also admitted they couldn't do what they did without the help of others.

"You look back on your time with pride really, but it's not just about us. There's been 2000 volunteers every year for 15 years so that's a lot of people... around 30,000," he said.

"But we're ready to step back. Especially me with the compliance and technology stuff you've got to have in your head... it is getting a bit beyond me.

"I deal with that every day at work so the last thing I want to do is deal with it in sport, but you've got to do it these days."

While this year's Ironman Australia is likely to go down as their last official duties after nearly 30 years, they will still be around to help Danny Suitor take the reins.

"We'll go when Danny says 'I'm good to go'. He said he knew [Ironman] was big, but he didn't know it was that big."

They feel he is primed to take over after being Ironman Australia swim leg director for the last four years and having COVID and flood events to deal with.

"We'd spoken to Danny about taking over the role back in 2019 so he was having these false starts all the time," Sue said.

She admits it will be tough to walk away after so long.

"For us to walk away is not the way we normally operate, but it's time. You get to a stage where you have to have a succession plan and away you go."

BEFORE YOU GO:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: