BIOGRAPHIES
CHRISSIE WELLINGTON
Christine Ann Wellington OBE (born 18 February 1977) is a retired, British professional triathlete and four-time Ironman World Champion. She was born in Norfolk and studied at the University of Birmingham (BSc Geography) and the University of Manchester (MA Econ Development Studies). She worked for the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as a policy adviser on international development and for an NGO on development projects in Nepal. She became a professional triathlete in February 2007.
Chrissie was the first British athlete to hold the Ironman World Championship title, and was undefeated in all 13 of her Ironman races. She is the only triathlete, male or female, to have won the World Championship less than a year after turning professional, an achievement described by the British Triathlon Federation as “a remarkable feat, deemed to be a near impossible task for any athlete racing as a rookie at their first Ironman World Championship.” She won the World Championship in three consecutive years (2007–9), but could not start the 2010 race because of illness. She regained the title in 2011.
Chrissie holds, or held, all three world and championship records relating to Ironman: the overall world record; the Ironman World Championship course record (from 2009 until Mirinda Carfrae lowered it in 2013); and the official world record for all Ironman-branded triathlon races. She lowered the world record on all three occasions (2009–11) she raced at Challenge Roth, in Germany. Her current record of 8 hours 18 minutes 13 seconds is more than 32 minutes faster than the record that stood from 1994 to 2008. In addition to the Ironman titles, she was the 2006 ITU Age Group World Champion and the 2008 ITU Long Distance World Champion.
Chrissie retired from professional sport in 2012 and devotes her life to development work, and specifically interventions to increase participation in physical activity. She now works full time as Global Lead for Health and Wellbeing for parkrun, and was instrumental in developing the junior parkrun series of events. In 2014 Chrissie played a key role in organising a successful campaign to get a women’s race at the Tour de France. She is an active patron for a number of charities as well as being an accomplished motivational and public speaker and a passionate advocate on issues related to physical activity and health.
Chrissie published her autobiography, A Life Without Limits, in February 2012, which went straight to Number 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list. She was named the 2009 Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year, appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to Ironman triathlons and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to sport and charity. In December 2010, having awarded her its Sporting Achievement Award in 2007, the University of Birmingham granted her an honorary doctorate “as a tribute to her work in both her passions: sport and international development.” The University of Bristol also awarded her an honorary doctorate in February 2017.
CHRISSIE’S TRIATHLON RACE RESULTS
DATE: 8 October 2011
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman World Championship, USA
FINISH TIME: 8:55:08
DATE: 21 August 2011
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Timberman, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:16:33
DATE: 10 July 2011
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Challenge Roth, Germany (Ironman distance)
FINISH TIME: 8:18:13
DATE: 12 June 2011
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Kansas, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:11:08
DATE: 10 April 2011
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman South Africa, South Africa
FINISH TIME: 8:33:56
DATE: 21 November 2010
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman Arizona, USA
FINISH TIME: 8:36:13
DATE: 22 August 2010
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Timberman, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:10:11
DATE: 18 July 2010
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Challenge Roth, Germany
FINISH TIME: 8:19:13
DATE: 6 June 2010
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Kansas, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:07:49
DATE: 10 October 2009
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman World Championship, USA
FINISH TIME: 8:54:02
DATE: 23 August 2009
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Timberman, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:15:11
DATE: 9 August 2009
PLACE: 2nd
EVENT: Boulder 5430 Long Course Triathlon, USA (half Ironman)
FINISH TIME: 4:12:18
DATE: 12 July 2009
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Challenge Roth, Germany
FINISH TIME: 8:31:59
DATE: 14 June 2009
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Kansas, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:14:52
DATE: 17 May 2009
PLACE: 6th
EVENT: Columbia Triathlon, USA (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 2:18:40
DATE: 5 April 2009
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman Australia, Australia
FINISH TIME: 8:57:10
DATE: 11 October 2008
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman World Championship, USA
FINISH TIME: 9:06:23
DATE: 31 August 2008
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship, The Netherlands (4km / 120 km / 30 km)
FINISH TIME: 6:12:44
DATE: 17 August 2008
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Timberman, USA
FINISH TIME: 4:11:46
DATE: 30 July 2008
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Alpe d’Huez Long Course Triathlon, France (2.2 km / 115 km / 22 km)
FINISH TIME: 6:18:25
DATE: 6 July 2008
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman Frankfurt (European Championship), Germany
FINISH TIME: 8:51:24
DATE: 27 April 2008
PLACE: 22nd
EVENT: Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup, South Korea (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 1:58:21
DATE: 6 April 2008
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman Australia, Australia
FINISH TIME: 9:03:55
DATE: 2 December 2007
PLACE: 4th
EVENT: Laguna Phuket Triathlon, Thailand (1.8 km / 55 km / 12 km)
FINISH TIME: 2:47:57
DATE: 13 October 2007
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman World Championship, USA
FINISH TIME: 9:08:45
DATE: 2 September 2007
PLACE: 3rd
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 Singapore, Singapore
FINISH TIME: 4:19:18
DATE: 26 August 2007
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Ironman Korea, South Korea
FINISH TIME: 9:54:37
DATE: 1 August 2007
DATE: 1st
EVENT: Alpe d’Huez Long Course Triathlon, France (2.2 km / 115 km / 22 km),
FINISH TIME: 6:43:15
DATE: 15 July 2007
PLACE: 5th
EVENT: ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship, France (3 km / 80 km / 20 km)
FINISH TIME: 4:07:08
DATE: 7 July 2007
PLACE: 5th
EVENT: ITU Premium European Cup, The Netherlands (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 2:06:15
DATE: 23 June 2007
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Zurich Triathlon, Switzerland (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 1:59:33
DATE: 17 June 2007
PLACE: 5th
EVENT: Ironman 70.3 UK, UK
FINISH TIME: 5:04:45
DATE: 2 June 2007
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Blenheim Triathlon, UK (750m / 19.3 km / 5.2 km)
FINISH TIME: 1:07:50
DATE: 5 May 2007
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Subic Bay ITU Triathlon Asian Cup, The Philippines (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 2:03:41
DATE: 1 April 2007
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: Bangkok Triathlon, Thailand (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 1:59:28
DATE: 25 March 2007
PLACE: 2nd
EVENT: Mekong River ITU Triathlon Asian Cup, Thailand (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 1:55:47
DATE: 2 September 2006
PLACE: 1st
EVENT: ITU Age Group Triathlon World Championship, Switzerland (Olympic distance)
FINISH TIME: 2:17:32
DAVE SCOTT
One of triathlon’s most recognisable personalities, Dave Scott began his career at the inception of the sport in 1976. Dave is the first six-time Hawaii Ironman World Champion (1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1987). He was the first-ever inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame in 1993 and celebrated his induction in 1994 by coming out of retirement to place second in Kona aged 40. He returned to Kona one final time in 1996, and finished fifth overall at the age of 42! Dave was also inducted into the Triathlete Magazine Hall of Fame in 1999 and into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2015, he joined the Advisory Panel of Ironman U, where he serves as its Master Coach. Dave currently resides in Boulder, Colorado, where he coaches many multisport athletes, as well as delivering corporate presentations and coaching clinics and contributing to numerous publications and websites. He coached Chrissie Wellington from 2009 to her final Ironman World Championship victory in 2011.
PROFESSOR ASKER JEUKENDRUP
Professor Asker Jeukendrup is a leading sports nutritionist and exercise physiologist who spent most of his career at the University of Birmingham (UK), where he was a Professor of Exercise Metabolism and Director of Research. He also worked for several years in the corporate world before starting his own consulting business, Mysportscience, and a nutrition planning software business, fuelthecore.com. He is also a visiting professor at Loughborough University and TV presenter on Channel 5’s Tour de Celeb. Asker has authored over 200 research papers and book chapters, which have collectively changed the sports nutrition landscape. During his career, he worked with many elite athletes, including Chrissie Wellington, and teams to develop personalised nutrition plans, and has put evidence-based sports science support systems in place to enhance recovery and optimise performance. Asker practises what he preaches and competes in Ironman-distance triathlons as well as other endurance events. To date, he has completed 21 Ironman races including the Ironman World Championship six times.
KATE PERCY
Runner, cook and author Kate Percy has been inspiring athletes about the link between real food and sustained performance since the launch of her first book Go Faster Food in 2009. It was watching her husband, Mark, struggling for energy while training for his first marathon in 2000 that triggered Kate’s initial interest in nutrition. After adapting what and when her husband ate, they saw a transformation in his training and performance. Furthermore, the whole family’s energy levels soared and concentration improved. Indeed, this was the catalyst for Kate’s own running career. Kate writes monthly recipe features for 220 Triathlon, Athletics Weekly and Running Fitness magazines. Since the launch of her latest book, Go Faster Food for Kids, she has been increasingly involved in food education and encouraging healthy lifestyles among children. Kate Percy lives in Bristol with her husband, and has three children.
MIKE TAYLOR
Mike is the owner of Bike-fit.co.uk and Bridgtown Cycles. He has been involved with long-distance cycling since he was a child, completing his first 12-hour time-trial at the age of 16. Coming from a family of long-distance cyclists and bike-shop owners (Mike’s sister holds the Land’s End to John o’Groats and 1,000-mile records), the desire to build efficient sustainable race positions has been his major driving force since before the term bike-fitting existed. Mike has a BSc Honours degree and two years of research specialising in Behavioural Ecology (studying the interactions of an animal with its environment). Mike sees his bike-fitting as an extension of his studies and has been central to building efficient race positions for multiple national champions and professional athletes, including Chrissie Wellington. Mike is married to Kate, a qualified physiotherapist, and they have two children.
