Rugby is where I first found my passion for sport. I played from age 6 to 20 — school 1st XV as club captain, then for my country and my university.
I stopped at 20, in my second year of university, because I wanted to test myself in a different way. That's when I found Ironman.
I was inspired by Nick Bare's Ironman documentary and decided to build towards completing one myself. I already had a decent base from cycling — I'd done a few long rides before — but running was fairly new to me, and I couldn't swim more than a length of a pool.
My first ever triathlon ended up being that Ironman. I missed my sub-12-hour goal by a whisker, but it taught me more than a finish time ever could.
After Ironman, I wanted a 100-mile trail race. Learning from that year, I built up properly first — smaller races including the Arc of Attrition 25 and a 50-mile race on the South Downs.
An injury pulled me out of the Arc, but I ran over 54 miles on the South Downs in under 10 and a half hours — still my longest run to date. A stress fracture in my foot then ruled me out of the 100 itself.
I've since rebuilt my strength, and running the length of England in under two weeks is the biggest test I've set myself yet.
Each challenge is different, but the shape is the same: something far enough to hurt, public enough to keep me honest, and hard enough to be worth sponsoring. If I'm going to ask people to give, I'd better earn it the hard way.
Why Movember & Right To Play →