My Story - fail, fail, fail, succeed, repeat

I always wanted to play or be involved in professional sport. Football was my obsession and occupied most of my time and thoughts as a child. The dream ended when i was released from Newcastle United age 17.

Then again, when one story ends another begins. One day I saw my tummy wobble whilst laying on a beach in Spain as an 18 year old (1997). I knew I wanted to get fit ASAP! I started to exercise at the local gym managed by Tony and Kirsty Wade (first British woman to run under 2mins for 800m). They inspired me to start running and cycling and then I got a job in the gym!

Some of the guys at the gym were doing ironman Triathlons. I tried swimming and couldn’t manage 2 lengths without stopping so signed up for an aquathlon to encourage me to improve. I completed the first one and then the series improving each time and loved the buzz of the challenge and the variety multisport gave me. I bought a bike for £400, completed my first pool based triathlon and was hooked.

It was then onto open water events, standard distance, big national events and the big carrot of a GB vest at European and world age-group champs. To save you the boredom of the detail, the next few years were; fail, fail, fail, succeed, repeat. I got my GB vest, failed a few more times in reaching goals I’d set before finally winning the Triathlon World age-group Championships (25-29yrs and overall) in Madeira 2004 at the third attempt.

Add in another 2 years of that familiar pattern and I’d reached a cross roads. I was racing some ETU/ITU points races but swimming and then finishing near the back of the field and full-time working life had arrived. Duathlon came about due to that desperation to remain in the sport I loved but continue to have realistic goals to work towards within the time constraints I had. Fast forward 15 years with lot’s more failure but gradual progression and lots of success and you can see the key results below! The last four years have involved fitting this around my amazing family including two little ones and a wonderful wife. I still make mistakes and get things wrong in many aspects of life including sport but the overall trajectory is positive!