Without fear of failure...

Well, I promised last night that this evening I'd attempt a blog post slightly more worthy of yesterday's events so here goes...

Long time readers of our blog will have seen me refer to today's quote (see below) on more than one occasion. It was said by perhaps the greatest triathlete of all time and is something that I aspire to one day get close to. This Sunday, during eight hours and 45 minutes of awe inspiring racing, everyone present at Ironman UK was witness to the best example of 'really living' I have ever seen...

Up here in Yorkshire we've become pretty used to success on the international triathlon scene, but even so few could have predicted that a 20 year old lad from York would lead from start to finish over 140.6 miles against one of the world's most established ultra endurance athletes to become the youngest ever winner of an Ironman triathlon... oh, and did I mention it was the furthest he'd ever ridden a bike on his own and the first time he'd ever run a marathon? To be honest though, no amount of stats, figures or split times could get close to describing what those of us lucky enough to witness Phil Graves' Ironman arrival will remember for ever... I'm not one for hyperbole so please believe me when I say this really was the stuff of legend!

Despite coming into the race having won the UK half-Ironman and soon after placing third in the national 100 cycling time trial championships (three hours 37 minutes for 100 miles, on a bike... think about that for a minute) many of us thought this a step too far for someone so young. The common advice seemed to be to stick to middle distance racing for a while, rack up some prize money and sponsorship and maybe in a few years step up to Iron distance... when 'ready'. I've long believed that in order to achieve extraordinary things we need to throw 'the book' out of the window and live an extraordinary life, and Phil Graves is certainly living 'a life less ordinary'. Coming out of the swim with Stephen Bayliss it was no secret that Graves would set about building as big a lead as possible, as quickly as possible. Spectating at the start of the first real climb of the bike course we were initially disappointed to see Bayliss leading the way, 30 seconds later however, as Graves flew past us on his tri-bars pushing what apparently (and what looked like) a 57 tooth chain-ring (uphill - think about it) we were left in little doubt as to who would be first onto lap two. What we weren't prepared for was that 90 minutes later he'd have a lead of over six minutes and would attack the hill (three mile climb, 72 miles of riding and a marathon to go - think about it) like nothing we've ever seen. There really is no way words could do it justice - picture the aggression of a young Mike Tyson and the focus of Tiger Woods - I've seen Ain-Alar Juhansen destroying the climb up the Mirador Del Rio on the way to winning Ironman Lanzarote and that doesn't even come close. The fearlessness with which Graves set about attacking what appears to be one of the toughest Ironman courses in the world was a joy to witness. In a sporting world where mediocrity is rewarded to such an extent that true passion and flair are so often compromised in the name of 'professionalism' it was wonderful to see someone so young put everything on the line, hold nothing back and truly give 100%. I mean absolutely, positively, 100%... everything, really truly everything... it's something that very few people will ever get close to, I certainly haven't... yet ;) 'Everything' isn't measured in times, places or trophies, nor is it measured in money, success or fame... it's all about you, as a person, an individual is defined by their actions, not their outcomes, and on Sunday the 2nd of August 2009 Phil Graves 'really lived'. Perhaps one day, we will too?

"Unless you test yourself, you stagnate. Unless you try to go way beyond what you've been able to do before, you won't develop and grow. When you go for it 100%, when you don't have the fear of 'What if I fail?', that's when you learn. That's when you're really living"
- Mark Allen

See you on Sunday,

T x