PREPARE yourself for a few watery-eyed moments when you read Tracey Richardson’s compelling new book “Going the Distance� – a riveting autobiographical account of her many triumphs over seemingly insurmountable odds.

Tracey shot to fame last year when she crossed the finish line of the Ironman New Zealand triathlon, a gruelling undertaking in her effort to raise money and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis.

Beyond the finish line, Tracey’s image remains etched in the minds of many as she fell into the arms of her two eldest children, who are both afflicted with this devastating terminal genetic condition.

Super mum to six, this 41-year-old Taradale woman makes you want to feel your pulse. What she has to juggle in her hectic life would leave most us exhausted, and yet she still manages to be the cheery face of the 2005/6 Special K Duathlon campaign.

Going the Distance reveals how focus and passion can actually change lives, and Tracey says it was easy to write because the words came straight from the heart.

“Perhaps the hardest part was trying to find the words that describe the emotions, and re-living them in the process,� she says, admitting there were a few tears when she wrote about the death of her father.

“It certainly has been a journey, and there’s more to come. My kids are still sick and they’re still going to die, which still leaves me numb, but writing the book has been very therapeutic. It’s helped me think about things in a bigger-picture sense and how they are interrelated, and how some of the crappy stuff that happened earlier in my life has actually set the ground for some good stuff later on, in that it’s given me a belief that I can get through things.�

Putting her words between two covers has also helped Tracey to shelve that chapter of her life, and to recharge her strength to turn the pages of her future as they unfold for the next instalment of her life.

“I really did need to document what happened, and now I can move on,� says this truly inspirational woman, who has learned to face the sun and let the shadows fall behind.