Simon’s triathlon challenge

Simon Hoppe grew up in Glinton and enjoyed a happy childhood with lots of friends and activities in and around the village. To many local people, he will be known or remembered as the boy often seen running or cycling around Glinton and surrounding villages, usually with some of his trusted border collie dogs in tow.
For those of you that know Simon now, you may ask what has changed – not much except that he now lives in Deeping and often has his children in tow!

Simon with his Van Nicholas racing bike and the next generation of local triathletes (Spencer and Sebastian)

Simon’s childhood was characterised by lots of sports and outdoor activities including athletics/running, football, rugby, judo, motocross, swimming, basketball, scouts, dog walking and skiing, all of which his parents allowed him to do on a weekly basis, requiring much food to keep him going and his parents taxiing him around town.

However, Simon’s life changed when his ‘triathlon journey’ began in 1987, when as a 17 year old all round sports enthusiast, he injured his knee on a skiing holiday and was unable to walk or run for 6 weeks.

In an effort to maintain his hard-earned fitness, he was advised by a physiotherapist to swim and cycle to keep fit and maintain the strength in the leg. Later that same year, whilst working at Tallington Health club, Simon met Terry Elding, a professional diver and all-round fitness fanatic. He had recently joined the local and newly founded PACTRAC triathlon club and suggested that Simon try a triathlon, once he was back on his feet. That first triathlon was staged at Oundle, and Simon won the race! He was immediately hooked by this exciting, challenging and incredibly new sport. Triathlon is a sport that combines swimming, cycling and running in a continuous endurance event, i.e. with no rest in between. The events range in duration from one hour to 12 hours plus, depending on the event distance and ability.
Simon told the Tribune: “I can honestly say that triathlon has shaped my life, taught me some valuable lessons, led to extensive travel, given me some amazing experiences and produced some great friendships. It is twenty one years since I took up the sport and I am just as passionate about it now as I was then. In fact, I am still clocking the same times (or better) as I was when I was 22 years old.”
In the meantime, Simon has competed for Great Britain in 16 European and World Championship events all over the world, taken part in over 200 triathlon, cycling and running races and has won around 100 of those including four consecutive medals at European Triathlon Championships.
But sport is not just about medals and winning, it’s also about the experiences and friendships. Simon’s toughest triathlon was in the National Championships at Ellesmere in 1998. He came out of the swim just ahead of his old adversary, Darren Thompson, but Darren soon caught him on the bike and was soon out of sight. As Simon entered the bike-run transition, his wife, Angela, mentioned that he was about three minutes behind Darren – Darren and Simon had been racing each other since they were 11 years old at school cross-country races, and although they had often been close, Darren had never beaten Simon in a triathlon. Simon was shocked that Darren had taken 3 minutes out of him on the bike, and Simon set-off on the run determined to close the gap. At this point he was caught by an old nemesis and fellow GB team member, David Bacon. Normally when you are caught up in the run leg of an Olympic distance triathlon, you struggle to get back, but David and Simon had caught and passed each other about ten times and needless to say they were pushing each other to their physical limits . With about 2km to go, they caught Darren, but soon after Simon started feeling very ‘hazy’ and disoriented, David got ahead and Simon felt as if he was ‘hallucinating’, Simon just wanted to stay ahead of Darren. Simon explains: “The next 2km was a blur until with about 800m to the finish, I saw David was only about 40m ahead and decided to make one last effort to catch him. Amazingly, I found more speed and caught him just as we approached the finishing straight. The crowds all of a sudden came into view, cheered, David looked behind, and ‘kicked’, the crowd were spurring us on and we both gave it absolutely everything and crossed the line neck-and-neck and collapsed! We eventually recovered and became good friends, through a sense of mutual respect and a little fear! Although it really hurt at the time, that’s one of my fondest triathlon memories – triathlon is an achievement sport, and there is no greater achievement than getting the best out of yourself. You’ll notice I don’t mention where I finished, because on that day position didn’t matter – all that mattered was that I’d absolutely done my best on the day and made a good friend in the process.”
Training for triathlons requires hard work, dedication and careful time management – but it is a lot of fun and keeps you very fit and healthy. “If there is one thing that triathlon has taught me, is that honesty, hard work and persistence always pays in the end and I have applied this simple formula to many other aspects in my life including work, education, family life, relationships, public campaigning and how to get the most out of each and every day!” says Simon.
Some of Simon’s proudest moments in sport include not only the results and the medals, but also allowing his Dad to collect his European Championship medal on his behalf (Simon had booked his flight home to get back to his young family, not expecting to win a medal). Simon has been sponsored by the world’s largest triathlon store, Tri UK, who have provided him with the best equipment, clothing and nutritional products for the best part of a decade (including the ‘fastest bike in the world’, Van Nicholas – see picture ).
Simon explained to the Tribune: “Life is a journey that travels full circle and I am pleased to say that as I reflect on my journey, I have had the great pleasure of seeing my eldest son, Spencer, at just eight years of age (nine years younger than me when I started) compete in his first triathlon and win a silver medal at his first attempt. My youngest son, Sebastian is just six and waiting in the wings to do his triathlon when he is old enough – maybe they’ll share my passion for triathlon or choose a different outlet for their talents and passion.
Simon has also helped to identify, encourage and nurture new talent in the sport of triathlon, most notably, Josh Daniels, a 17 year old son of a friend, who Simon encouraged to give the sport a ‘tri’ (excuse the pun!), and has since acted as mentor in helping Josh to obtain the best sponsorship, training and coaching. This year, Josh has achieved great success, winning a Gold medal at the European Championships on his debut for the Great Britain Triathlon team. Simon likens Josh’s success to the master teaching the student to surpass their achievements and hence this is how real progress is achieved in any walk of life, by continually learning from and improving upon what or who has gone before you.
In concluding, Simon told the Tribune: “I would encourage any young person or old to get into sport as a way of life, to develop friendships, learn how to be successful and enjoy life. Triathlon is unique in the way it encourages people of all ages to compete, by grouping competitors together by five year age groups (except for the ‘elite’/professionals) starting at age eight, all the way up to 85+.
I may be biased, but in my opinion, there is no more challenging, varied or healthy pursuit than triathlon.”

If you want to find out more visit;
www.britishtriathlon.org – for more information on the sport and events
www.pactrac.co.uk – to join the local club
www.triuk.com – to find out where to get the best swimming, biking and running kit
www.vannicholas.com – to find out where to buy the fastest bikes.