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I can still vividly see the finish line, a big wave of emotion coming through me as I make the U-turn from the asphalt on to the grass for the last 200 meters. There was no longer any doubt whether I’d make it, and that feeling of absolute certainty filled me with both relief and a cocktail of emotions ranging from pride to fulfilment. While I had experienced a lot of personal and professional success in the past, finishing my first triathlon left me with a unique feeling of personal achievement. There was something truly raw about this moment, as if this were the first time to ever taste real success. It was one achievement that could not be associated with luck, circumstance or favorable conditions, but all genuinely due to grit and 6 long months of consistent hard effort. Little did I know back then as I was crossing that finish line with tears in my eyes, that life would never be the same again.

Physical challenges touch the soul in a way that is difficult to explain, but its effects can be truly life-changing. Having finished over 50 triathlons of all distances around the world in the past 10 years, I have come to realise that while people will almost always prefer to take a shortcut when given the chance, there is nothing like experiencing a certain degree of suffering to bring about mental, physical and spiritual growth, and bring you face to face with who you truly are and are capable of.

There is something magical about a race if you allow yourself to fully embrace the experience. I like to think of each race as a mini-life simulation, a hero’s journey through which you are offered the opportunity to experience a pantheon of emotions and bring to the surface the erratic and irrational thought process that is usually unconscious and numbed out in our digital lives. Fear, anxiety, anger, relief, doubt, hope, envy, joy, ecstasy, boredom, surprise, happiness, gratitude, desperation. One moment you’re feeling great, the other you’re feeling awful and ready to quit, presenting you with one of those rare and wonderful opportunities of awareness where you can experience yourself looking into the mirror and asking “What am I going to do about this? How will I handle this situation?”. Sometimes you give in and slow down, sometimes you push on, but no one can make that choice for you other than you, and after the race, once the rate of facebook likes slows down and are all showered up and tucked into bed, the truth about the choices you made that day reflect a real side of you, hopefully learning something more about yourself in a way that your everyday routine could never teach.

For me, a great race is one where you are willing to embrace the experience and focus on yourself, on your effort, on your feelings and thoughts, while gathering the courage to make some gutsy choices. The organisers are responsible for setting the right scene and atmosphere so that everything works like clockwork, creating the necessary environment that allows you the opportunity to have a great race, but at the end of the day it is actually you who is responsible for making the most out of the experience.

A great race can be absolutely transformative. When you find yourself realise that “hey, I can actually do more than I thought I could” you prove that there is badass potential in there, that you can do a little more than you previously thought was possible. You suffered and rejoiced, you wanted to give in but didn’t, you thought that this will never end but it did. When no one was looking you persevered.

And it leaves you wanting more.

Before you know it, the ripples of that initial realisation start to manifest into bigger goals and harder challenges, while the effects spread out to all aspects of your life. Confidence starts to grow, aggressive professional goals are now not as distant as once seemed, a career change does not seem as scary, you become more productive and courageous. The cyclical process of setting and achieving training objectives creates an environment where you can taste success not just on race day but on a daily basis, reinforcing long-term success mentality day in day out.

Swim Course, Hever Castle Triathlon

This is why I am building racecheck. Because I truly believe that a great race can transform your life, give you the confidence to chase your dreams and the audacity to grow into someone you never thought was possible. It is my personal mission to get as many people as possible developing a belief system that they can go after any goal and achieve anything they want in life, to show you how a great race can truly become a catalyst for a life-changing experience. Reviews and the power of community associated with the act of helping peers make better race choices are pivotal to this mission, because it helps people uncover the events where such a transformative experience is possible. I am humbled that what started as a silly idea after a badly organised race has developed into a platform where tens of thousands of athletes around the world of all skills, ages and sports share into this mission, and help each other find better races while also helping organisers improve.

Everything we do at racecheck is because we believe that racing, and especially crossing the finish line with friends, can become a metaphor for transformation. Removing all the logistical hassle that goes with race participation while facilitating and fuelling athlete communities can help create the space where ever lasting memories at worst, or a life-changing moment at best can happen. I would love to hear your stories about how finishing a race changed your life for the better and meanwhile, my amazing team and I will continue to work tirelessly to help people find that special race, connect with similar minded peers and reach their true potential.