| BIO |
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| I was born on the 7th of August, 1978 and currently reside in Tuart Hill, Western Australia. My formative years were spent in the family home in Willetton as the middle of five children (siblings Travis, Ryan, Wesley and Libby) with my parents Robert and Athene. I am greatly indebted to the love and hard working values imparted by my parents and the competitive spirit that was developed competing with my siblings and friends during these years. Where I grew up, sport was a way of life. During my primary and high school years (1984-1995) I participated in Australian Rules Football, Tee-ball, Basketball and Cricket before discovering a natural talent for cross country and track running in my mid teens. While studying physiotherapy at university (1996-1999), I continued to pursue my running locally in Western Australia and had short periods of multi-sport competition while recovering from injury or seeking some variation in routine. After university (1999-2003), I became more career focused and worked at various Physiotherapy Clinics around Perth, highlighted by stints with some state and national sporting teams. In 2003, my long time friend and massage therapist, Mark Parlet and I decided it was time to combine our services and set up “The Body Station Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Massage”. We could think of no better place than Willetton to set up the practice and the decision has since proved to be the correct one, with the clinic continuing to grow and provide quality service to the great people in the local and surrounding areas. 2005 was the most pivotal year of my life to date. Early in the year, while back packing in Central America, I became interested in competing seriously again when Newcastle was selected to host the World Duathlon Championships. Not long after returning home and commencing training, my younger brother Wesley was tragically killed in a car accident. This bought great sadness and grief to all of my family. During this time I had a great deal of reflection on the direction that I had been pursuing in life as a busy young professional. In the wash up, I decided that I would have a real crack at Duathlon and more importantly embrace every day with vigour and determination. I had always believed that my natural strengths match extremely closely the gruelling demands of Duathlon (Run-Bike-Run). It was also clear to me that sport was my greatest spirit driven pursuit and that I would only have a limited timeframe to pursue it seriously. Since commencing elite racing in 2006, I have already had some exceptional national and international results and have been on a consistent improvement curve, having progressed from an ITU World Duathlon Ranking of 21st (2006) to 9th (2007) to 5th (2008). It wasn’t all highlights though, as in August 2007 I had an horrific crash at Powerman Belgium requiring fixation of a broken jaw, radius and ulnar and an extended break from training and work. I have also had some greater joys outside sport including marrying my lovely wife Lianne in London and welcoming of our first son Sebastian (Born 10/12/2007) into the world. This has bought great balance and focus into my life both on and off the race track and life has really become an "in the moment" proposition. All the experiences of the past 3 years of racing and life have brought me to the stage where I feel ready to realise my goal of becoming world number 1 in 2009. I thank all my family, friends , sponsors, clubs and supporters and welcome you to follow the journey and enjoy the ride! Cheers Quick Facts
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