Jules is now officially Bristol’s fastest policeman with a stunning sub 9 hour debut at last weekend’s Ironman Austria. Jules has no real weakness, with a strong swim, stronger bike and awesome running ability. Read more about Jules and his Ironman Austria race report in his own words…

Ironman Austria 2011 race report

My first attempt at ‘going long’ was a bit of a step into the unknown. I knew I had put the training hours in but I had never swum, cycled or run the distances individually and I had certainly never done then all in one go! I defiantly had targets going into the race but as the race approached nerves meant I put them to one side and decided I just wanted to finish.

Overall I was really chuffed with the result and pretty much nailed my goals of getting out of T1 in less than an hour, cycling the course in less than 5 and running a sub 3 marathon. With a couple of solid transitions this meant I finished in 8:55. Ultimately meaning I achieved my target of completing my first Ironman in less than 9 hours. Job done!

Rider Profile

History: I come from a running background having competed at 800 / 1500M on a national level as a youngster. I forgot about sport for a few years while I enjoyed a couple of post uni years in summer / winter holiday resorts living the life of a ski bum. I got back into sport when my other half said she fancied giving Triathlon a go. I joined her in 2004 for a crack at the Malvern sprint Tri. I did the swim in run shorts, I put my goggles upside down (they filled with water) and drank way too much on the bike, which gave me a stitch on the run. Obviously I loved it and have completed mainly in Olympic distance events since then. With a bit of hard work I have been fortunate to achieve some 1/2 decent results, these include;

Royal Windsor Tri 1st
London Tri 1st
European Age Group Champs 1st
Helvellyn Tri 1st
Bala Middle Distance (3rd and 2nd)
IM Austria 8:55

Aims for 2012

I am at a bit of a cross roads having just completed my main A race of the season. However I am sure, much to the annoyance of my long suffering wife I will come up with another crazy race to go for. Alpe, d’ huez Tri, could be the go?

Mark White seems to have been involved in Ironman Triathlon since the beginnings of the sport in the UK. With multiple fast finishes across the world, including the hallowed Hawaii Ironman, Mark proves year after year, he’s one of the most consistent and fastest age group athletes in the country. Here’s some words from Mark…

More aims: Qualify for Kona @ IM Lanzarote 2012 & beat 4 hours for the 100 mile TT.

Personnel info,
Ex Royal Marine, from 1987 – 1992……Joined the fire service in 1993, been in for 19 years, now a crew manager…Been racing triathlons sine 1984…Was a member of the original British junior squad in 1984 after finishing 3rd at the British junior champs.. Raced Elite at British grand prix series from 1995-2000..Best results where 5th overall at Bournmouth (1hr 57 mins) 8th overall @ Shropshire 1hr 56 mins, 6th overall @ Milton Keynes 1hr 57, and 9th overall at the Ironbridge Long course (british long course champs)

First Ironman 2002 @ Lanzarote, 90th, 2nd Ironman 2003 @ Lanzarote, 65th missed Kona by 10 seconds.

Since then I’ve raced 15 Ironmans to date. loads of 70.3. Best results include : 9hrs 06 mins – 2nd overall @ The longest day, I actually beat Scott Nyedlli by 10 mins!!!! 3rd and 6th overall @ Vitruvian 2004, 2005, 5th and 6th overall at Bala, 2005, 2007…Raced Kona 2005 9hrs 24 mins.

Twice qualified for Kona at IM Florida & IM UK…5 times @ Roth…

Master coach for Trainingbible UK, one of my athletes finished in 8hrs 59 mins on Sunday @ IM Austria, he ran a 2.55 marathon!!!!!

Don’t mistake Phil’s diminutive size for a lack of full on racing grit. Meet Bike Science – Planet X team member Phil Richards. With an age group win at Lanzarote Ironman in 2010 and a finish at the Hawaii Ironman in Kona to her name, Phil’s gunning for a top finish at this year’s 70.3 Worlds in Las Vegas.

Sporting CV to date:
1992-2004 – played rugby up to county level – at 5′1 was regularly bounced, gave me a good grounding in pain and suffering
2005 – Comrades ultra-marathon South Africa – 10th female novice in 8hr 21, painful, like properly painful
2006 – learnt to swim so I could do IMUK, wasn’t last out of the water and didn’t drown, was chuffed
2007 – Challenge Roth – awful, no further detail necessary
2009 – IM Austria – 10.55, terrible run, realised proper training was necessary as was owning a decent bike
- Helvellyn tri – 5th overall
2010 – IM Lanzarote – 1st in AG, one of favourite races to date
- IM Hawaii – had lost my mojo and couldn’t really be bothered. Was beaten out of the water by a man with one arm (I’m not even sure he had legs), and blown off the road twice on the bike, but was first Brit in AG
2011 – Mallorca 70.3 – missed out on win by 1min 47 but got a slot for Vegas anyway…will keep you posted…