![]() Once I have achieved a finish there, my plan is to refocus on another set of goals. Last year was intended to be my last with a slot at the World Ironman Champs at Kona in Hawaii, however this was deferred due to the pandemic and I am now on the start list for October 9th 2021, 10 days before my 50th Birthday. Since then, I’ve raced ultra-distance races across the world, often at World Championship level, as an age-grouper. I was told that I was unlikely to finish either by quite a few people at the time, so I took great pride in finishing both. As far as I know I am the only person ever to compete in both races back-to-back as a rookie in both. I went on a few weeks later to compete in my first Ironman in Taupo New Zealand. ![]() Getting amongst the athletes, I believed, brought greater credibility to the products I was selling. BodyO2 was sponsor and I felt it important to compete in the races that I supported. In 2005 I raced in my first ultra-endurance race, the Speights Coast to Coast, which is a cycling, mountain running and kayaking race from the East Coast to the West Coast of New Zealand. ![]() My company, branded BodyO2, was aimed squarely at the endurance market and in particular Triathlon with the legend Cameron Brown as the endorsement face. By this time, I had raced in several low-key community Triathlons as well as some Marathon runs and cycle races. I had decided to set up my own biohacking startup. For example, saying “ I’m a vegetarian” has a greater impact on behaviour than merely saying “ I shouldn’t eat meat”. At this point I had never raced in a multi discipline event, but as I understand now, having an identity can contribute to success in a powerful way. Following this I was introduced to the team as Gareth, who will be starting soon, “ Gareth is a Triathlete”. I added that I might even have a go at Triathlon, as I was a keen runner, cyclist and generally didn’t drown when in water. I was asked, “ Why New Zealand?” I explained that I was eager to take up the outdoor lifestyle of Mountain Biking and Snowboarding. By March I was interviewing at Talon Technology, later to become Navman, for a Project Manager role, in Auckland. I recall thinking that by the following year I’d be living there and resolved to look for work. I remember at 11am in Portsmouth watching live coverage as Auckland went into the new Millennium, with the fireworks from the Sky Tower. I will submit that the mindset can be easily applied to how I approach work and life in general.Īt the turn of the century, I was working as a Product Engineer at Sony Corp in the UK. This article is to explain why I challenge myself to push through pain, to strengthen my resilience and how what I have learned in the 23 races that I have completed over the past 17 years. ![]() Watch Gareth's presentation on his Ironman experiences at the 2021 Business Agility Conference I went into it with no idea whether I could finish. Most times when I race in ultra-endurance events, I’m not that nimble for a few days afterwards. This is what the normal people do, but to add an additional spice to my challenge I then went and did the same again the following day. This comprised a 3800-metre swim in a lake, in the dark followed by 197km cycle ride around Mt Taranaki which included 3 climbs up the mountain road for a total elevation of 3600 metres, then to top it off a marathon from the coast back up the mountain to 1200 metres. Kiwiman is a double extreme triathlon and designed specifically to test the limits of the body and mind. Last week, I’m proud to say, I completed Kiwiman, in New Zealand.
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