On Episode 51 we have GB Agegroup Triathlete and former GB Pentathlon athlete Matt Barnes
Heres Matts Story:
I started out as a swimmer from being about 8 years of age. I was ok, club/county standard. However, my swimming club had a biathlon club attached to it (run/swim competitions) and I was a better runner than swimmer. From 11 I gradually picked up the other events of the Modern Pentathlon - shooting, swimming and horse-riding, until I was doing full Pentathlons at 16. I started taking the sport more seriously at University and won my first international appearance in 1997. From then I competed at 2 European Championships and 3 World Championships as a Pentathlete. My last year in the sport was 2002, when I was National Champion and finished 24th at worlds.
In 2002 I started my job as a lawyer, working in the sports industry, so retired from Pentathlon and decided to focus on just running. I became a 1500m runner and my best year was 2007 when I made the National final, ran 3.42 and a sub 4 mile. I moved up to 5000m a year or so after that and ran a 13.58 5,000m and got a Great Britain vest on the road.
From my md thirties I suffered with a few injuries and was back in the pool trying to keep fit and also doing a bit of cycling, but nothing structured. Alongside my running, I entered a few triathlons from about 2016 and in 2017 I went to the world standard distance champs in Rotterdam and got a bronze in the 40-44 age group. In 2018 I also won a silver at the european sprint. I was still also competing as a runner and in 2019 I won the european 1500m title as a v40 in Italy.
Obviously the last couple of years have been hugely disrupted with COVID. I have also had some medical advice that I have to run a lot less as I had a hip operation in 2015 and my cartliage has degenerated more since then. However, I have started working with a coach to improve my bike, which is my weakest event and have seen some big gains this winter. My run is also still holding up so I am hopeful of medals in Munich and Montreal at this year's sprint distance europeans and worlds respectively.
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