It’s been an amazing year with two 2nd places at the UCI World Marathon Series (Roc d’Ardenne and Alps Bike Festival), third place at Raid Evolenard, a 5th and 6th at BeMC and now the National Marathon Championship title. Hard work pays off! Since winning the title back in 2015 and 2016 the event moved to the Isle of Man in 2017, the event has been a tricky nut to crack with 2 near misses finishing a close second on both occasions. The first year my preparation was exceptiona

My focus for a third National title was there each and every day since losing my stripey jersey a year ago. Wearing that jersey meant so much to me and I was absolutely devastated to lose it. The last few weeks I'd complete my workouts while imagining my rivals trying to attack away from me in the race, it gave me an extra few watts to record a PB or energy to complete an extra interval or 2. Training had gone better than I could have hoped, the legs felt strong and did every

Over the past 2 years it’s been a privilege to have worn the National Champion’s stripes at the front of some of the biggest marathon races in the world. I remember the first international race I went to in the jersey, I was parked up at the hotel pulling the bike out of the Vauxhall Vivaro and a road cyclist rides past and shouts “hey champion” in an Italian accent. Read about the emotions here http://marathonmtb.com/2017/08/02/emotions-national-marathon-champs-weekend/​ #Na