Last month Nat Heath, a modern-day epitomiser of Aboriginal resilience, took the most tortured type of a triathlon in his stride.

That is until his legs stopped, and the sentiment from the gruelling nine-and-a-half hour Ironman World Championship through ocean waters, on by bike and foot took control of his mouth.

It had very little to do with the anticipated dehydration where exhaustion arrives following the epic journey of the mind and soul.

"I'm very emotional," Nat Heath pronounced at the finish-line interview of the once famously-named Hawai'ian triathlon before the world's iconic ironman event was recently rebranded.

"I'm just super proud…it's exhilaration."

While most Australian headlines ran with Tasmanian Cameron Wurf finishing seventh place in the 2024 event, Heath completed the 3.8-kilometre open swim, 180km bike ride and 42.195km marathon run almost exactly 100 minutes later.

The Noongar and Martujarra man is the only Aboriginal or Torres Straits man to carry out the phenomenal race format – not once but twice – after earlier qualifying back in 2015.

Nadine Hunt, who did qualify this year but did not attend the women's world equivalent recently relocated to France, is the only Indigenous female to finish the same World Championship in 2023.

Those pioneering tags sit comfortably with dual former graduates of the Indigenous Marathon Project, Hunt adding the fact she is the sole Torres Strait Islander through the Iamalaig tribe, in addition to her Kaaanju Aboriginality, to run the Indigenous Kona land in Hawai'i.

Accomplishing the feat again since in 2020 and single-handedly founding TriMob, an Indigenous triathlon movement, Heath is thoroughly aware of who he was representing out on the course shortly after gaining a moment of clarity.

"I love yas, up the Mob – and I can't wait to see another First Nations persons here," Heath passionately calls out prior to recalling every step and the motivations that drove him across the finish line.

"Also, I lost one of my Uncles the other week.

"It's his funeral (last) Friday, so Uncle Pete, that's for you – love you, mate."

As much as the race took a toll on Heath's body, it started to take a toll on his emotions on breaking the long-awaited tape.

Parked along the final kilometres of a whirlwind odyssey, a litany of familiar faces started to appear.

There was close triathlon colleague and five-time world triathlon champion, Craig Alexander, who had a high-five set and waiting to go before Heath's coach, Tim Reed, appeared on the scene to congratulate his protege.

Others increased as the finish line got closer that were full of hugs, including handing over an Aboriginal flag flapping in the breeze.

"It's the best feeling," Heath summed up the dying steps.

"It was worth the nine-and-a-half hours of pain, but I won't be rushing back any time soon too."

But Heath still accredited finishing a total course that tallies more than 225km of territory all down to planning to around 20kms of training each week in the lead up to Hawai'i.

He foretold his strategy for Kona beforehand online that included simply staying cool and just running "hose to hose", a reference to the hoses up the steps of Dig Me Beach.

To prepare for the expected climatic impact that can affect a race, Heath took into account the "vicious face battering" into his training to ensure that "my face can handle the G forces".

No kind of intricate strategising, though, can prevent dealing with inevitable ups and downs of a course that the human body is not supposed to naturally endure.

"I had a good swim, surprisingly, and I rode well, but it's just hard – it's such a hard course," Heath admits.

"Down to half way, I thought I might've over cooked it, but it's like a rollercoaster: sometimes you're good, sometimes you're not.

"Then the run – I learned my lesson from nine years ago where I big-noted myself and took off and was like, 'This is easy' and I just ran the heart rate.

"I felt great at 30k, though the wheels fell off a bit in the last 5 or 6k."

No surprise, Heath was living the World Championships a week after all was said and done.

The adrenaline may have left his body, but not his head.

Among the heartfelt social media posts, Heath addressed his online followers, including many of his TriMob faithful.

The organisation empowers active Indigenous peoples to participate in triathlons to support their physical, mental and spiritual health.

Heath's words painted a picture to outsiders facing the ultimate of triathlons before eventually landing in the promised land for courageous athletes running out of fuel.

"The most euphoric, spine-tingling, and emotionally-charged 1600m preluded by 9.31hrs of swim, bike and run on the most awe-inspiring and destructive rock known as Kona," Heath eloquently wrote.

"I've never known a place that can take you to such depths of your soul.

"It's mystical with its very own life force and energy.

"The race along with the islands energy combine to ask you a very simple yet powerful question: 'What is your purpose here?' and then they make you revisit it multiple times to ensure you are strong in your conviction.

"However if you come through the repeated interrogation that Kona dishes up, you are left with the most magical 1600 metres from the top of Palani down to the finish chute where all the bubbling emotions spill out and you yourself feel 10 times stronger in your conviction of that question you kept coming back to: 'what is your purpose here?'

"The answer is a very simple, yet powerful to those that believe."