Lardman to Ironman

It's not what happens to us; it's how we react to what happens to us that counts.
Our reactions will shape our destiny...

In January 1986, Clive Gott was a 20 stone firefighter struggling to keep his job. Just four years later, weighing a little over 13 stone, he placed eleventh in the Fire Brigade World Triathlon Championships in Auckland, New Zealand. He went on to race all over the world including Las Vegas, Canada, Australia and Europe.

Lardman

Fighting weight [1986]:

20 stones 2 pounds

Typical training week:

• 30-40 pints of local brew
• Walking from oche to board 100's of times
• Out of breath running a bath
• Darts six nights a week [including Sundays]

Achievements:

• Several darts trophies
• Three world records registered by Guinness
• Played at Inner County level several times

Philosophy on life:

"Work is the curse of the drinking classes"

Ironman

Racing weight [1990]:

13 stones 3 pounds [10% body fat]

Typical training week:

• Swim 20,000 metres (12½ miles)
• Run 30 - 50 miles
• Cycle 150 - 200 miles
• Race on a Sunday

Achievements:

• Represented Yorkshire in regional Triathlon Championships
• Represented Great Britain Fire Brigade in World Triathlon Championships(11th)
• Winner of Pendle Team Event two years running
• 4th & 7th in same race in 1991 (Staggered start, raced twice)

Fastest Times:

• Ironman Triathlon(2.5 ml swim, 112 ml cycle, 26.2 ml run)
  9hrs 36mins
• Olympic distance Triathlon(1500 mtr swim, 25 mile cycle, 6 mile run)
  2hrs 8mins
• Marathon(26.2 miles) - 3hrs 6mins 22secs
• Half Marathon(13 miles) - 1hr 18mins 6secs
• 10 Mile run - 1hr 2secs
• 10 K run - 36mins 36secs

Philosophy on life:

"Hard work makes dreams come true"

In 1992, Clive created the title to his story when he completed his first 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run Ironman triathlons. The story of his journey from lardman to Ironman is both inspirational and amusing. And the only dietary advice he will give is stay away from cottage cheese!

An outstanding speaker with a natural ability to keep his audience entertained and amused without resorting to "blue" or "obscene" material, Clive Gott is a student of life and a self-confessed people watcher.

Testaments to Clive's humour, inspiration and unique speaking ability have been received from Canon, Honda, The BBC, Leeds Rhinos Rugby League, The British Junior Chamber and York Racecourse, to name just a few.