Triathlete Hannah Wells joins the Subaru team

Subaru of New Zealand is excited to announce the ultimate Kiwi adventure brand has partnered with professional triathlete and lifestyle/wellness ambassador Hannah Wells. PC: Paul Brunskill

Subaru of New Zealand is excited to announce the ultimate Kiwi adventure brand has partnered with professional triathlete and lifestyle/wellness ambassador Hannah Wells.

The 28-year-old embodies the essence of Subaru, which is get out and ‘do.’ Not only does Hannah train 20-plus hours a week - travelling from her Tauranga hometown to race - she also juggles a four-days-a-week role as an engineering research fellow at Massey University.

Subaru’s Marketing Manager Daile Stephens says when she was introduced to Hannah, it was an easy decision to welcome her to the Subaru family and provide her with a Subaru to drive.

“We were impressed with Hannah’s ability to balance both her professions – as a Post Doctorate Researcher and a recently-turned professional middle-distance triathlete. We want our Subaru vehicles to enable Kiwis to be able to ‘do’ more.  Whether it’s escaping to the beach or heading away for a ski weekend in the mountains - we don’t live to work, we work to live. Hannah really embraces that attitude and we are thrilled to join her journey,” Mrs Stephens says.

Hannah recently picked up her Impreza 2.0 Sport from the Subaru head office in Auckland and the 200-kilometre drive back to Tauranga was enough for her to fall in love with Subaru’s most compact model.

“The Subaru Impreza is so comfortable and so easy to drive. The EyeSight technology blew me away because of what it can do in terms of keeping me safer on the road. I travel a lot for training and racing, and it is reassuring to know I have the ability to get where I need to go, whatever the road or weather conditions. The Impreza also has plenty of boot space for all my gear – sometimes I feel like I live out of my car!” Hannah joked.

Hannah’s family are no strangers to the benefits of driving Subarus. Her mum also has an Impreza; her sister owns Subaru’s most popular large SUV, the Outback, and her boyfriend Nick has a Legacy in the garage.

They are all part of her support network that have been there as sport-loving Hannah transitioned from playing netball and volleyball to triathlon in her early twenties. She spent several years competing in the off-road Xterra events, where athletes swim, mountain bike and run on trails. In 2017, she finished third in the gruelling Kathmandu Coast to Coast one-day event before turning to half-ironman racing. The distances involved are a 1.9km swim, 90-kilometre road bike ride and a 21.1-kilometre run. 

Hannah decided to make her racing passion a profession later in 2017 and has achieved some impressive results as a pro. In January this year, she was the first pro female in the Tauranga Half Ironman/Middle Distance National Championships and a month later she won the women’s Challenge Wanaka Half Ironman.

She has qualified as a professional athlete for the 2019 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France, in September.

Hannah believes in maintaining balance as she works hard to achieve her own goals and she encourages others to adopt a healthy and well-rounded lifestyle. She hopes her interest in well-being, which includes making time for ourselves in our increasingly busy lives, will rub off on others.

“I want to motivate people to push their physical and mental limits; and inspire them to explore this breath-taking country we call home,’’ Hannah says.

Mrs Stephens concludes: “Hannah is like a lot of our Subaru drivers in many ways, although her achievements may surpass some of us! Peoples lives have never been so busy and the expectations we place on ourselves can cause a lot of stress and anxiety in today’s world. Beyond her achievements as an athlete, Hannah is our new wellness and lifestyle ambassador and we look forward to spreading her message to our Subaru followers to add value to their lives and enable them to get out and ‘do’ beyond the daily grind.”

Hannah can be seen driving around her hometown in Tauranga in either the compact Impreza or the stunning XV SUV which both have full time All-Wheel Drive, which delivers engine power to the four wheels simultaneously. Having power distributed across all four wheels, rather than two like on conventional vehicles, gives you twice the grip capacity.

 

Find out more about our Subaru range HERE and read more about Hannah HERE.

 

If you want to share some of Hannah Wells’ journey, follow her at:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_hannah_wells/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hannah.Wells.Triathlete/

Website: https://hannahwellsathlete.wordpress.com/

 

Catherine Pattison
Public Relations

Subaru of New Zealand


M  +64 (0)27 44 55 389
E  catherine.pattison@subaru.co.nz

 

subaru.co.nz