about me

I live in a village called Théoule sur Mer on the French Riviera with my wife Jo. I work from home as a website developer for a marketing company based in Stamford, UK. During my spare time I train and compete as an amateur runner and triathlete. I hope eventually to qualify for the World Ironman Championships which are held each year in Hawaii.

before...

I was born and raised in Sussex in the South East of England. I went to Michael Hall School and then on to study Physics for four years at Imperial College in London. During my time in London I lived a far from healthy lifestyle; I did no excercise, drank too much and slept too little. I married Jo in the summer of 2000 and we moved to live in Cambridge and then later to St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

running

Whilst living in St Neots, Jo decided to join the local running club (Riverside Runners) as a way to make new friends. After several months I was finaly persuaded to join too. I remember that first run - two or three miles of struggling to keep up with the back of the slowest group. Less than a year later I finished my first marathon in 3:45.

I soon found myself as chairman of the club and competing in London to Brighton, my first ultra. I knew 54 miles was not the limit and went on to attempt Britain's longest non-stop race, the 145 mile Grand Union Canal Run (GUCR). In May 2005 I had my first (and I hope only) DNF, retiring from the Canal Run at 90 miles. That race taught me a lot and I went back in 2006 to finish the 145 miles in 42 hours (read my race report here).

triathlon

After the Canal Run, I was ready for a new challenge, a friend (and previous winner of the Canal Run) was at the time training for his first Ironman and I decided I too would make the Ironman my next challenge.

There were problems. Firstly, I could hardly swim. I had never been taught to swim properly and could barely swim the length of a 25m pool. I also had a fear of putting my head in the water. Secondly, while I had done a bit of mountain biking in the past, I'd never done any serious road riding and didn't own a road bike.

I sold my car and baught a lovely Cannodale six13 off ebay. A couple of weeks later I took part in my first sprint distance triathlon. We set of in reverse order of our expected swim time so naturally I was first in the pool. I had never swum 400m before and just made it to the end of the swim (with the slowest swim time of the day). I'd done no bike training but managed a reasonable bike split and the experienced for the first time the wobbly legs of a traiathlon run - not a pleasent experience! It was less than a year until Ironman France and I knew I had a lot of work to do.

And that is where I am now... Putting in the miles ready for Ironman France 2007.

the futre...

The ultimate goal as a triathlete is to qualify to compete in the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii. In addition there are also many other goals which I hope to achieve. By listing my goals here (in no particular order) I hope to create some added motivation as well as a reminder to myself:

- Complete my first Ironman (Ironman France 2007)
- Qualify for the World Ironman Championships
- Comrades Marathon
- Double-Ironman Championships (4.8 mile swim, 224 mile bike, 52 mile run)
- Deca-Ironman Championships (24 mile swim, 1120 mile bike, 260 mile run)
- The Western States 100 (100 mile trail run)
- Badwater Ultra (135 miles non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney)
- Spartathlon (246 km with a 36 hour time limit)
- A sub 2:45 marathon