Swim, bike, run, sleep
From an early age, Nailsea postman and Team GB duathlete, Chris Mills was rarely seen without a ball at his feet.
Growing up he mainly played football until giving it up in his mid-20s to focus on cycling, taking advantage of Royal Mail’s Cycle to Work scheme. Two years after starting on a mountain bike, Chris bought his first road bike and joined Clevedon and District Road Cycling Club.
‘My first duathlon took place in September 2016, and despite putting no effort into the running aspect, I came second!’ said Chris. ‘This is where my love of duathlons began.’
Duathlons are similar to triathlons, but without the swimming. Duathlon races consist of a run leg, a bike leg and a final run. The standard duathlon distances are 10km/44km/5km, but there are both shorter variations (Sprint Duathlons and Super Sprint Duathlons) and longer versions (Ultra Duathlons).
It was only in 2018 that Chris really started to take the sport more seriously and after putting his mind to it, he managed to qualify for this year’s ‘Transilvania Multisport 2019 European Championships,’ which took place in June in Targu Mures, Romania (pictured).
‘I competed for Team GB in the 35-39 age category and came ninth, which I was very happy with,’ said Chris. ‘From here I plan to work much harder on the running aspect of things and aim to qualify for further world and European championships in years to come. My goal is to get on the podium in 2021.’
Chris has just taken part in his first ever triathlon with his club PAC-TRI (Portishead and Clevedon Triathlon Club). ‘Despite being useless at swimming, I managed to win the event purely on my cycling and running ability,’ he said.
‘So, with the help of my sponsors the CWU and Bristol Quality Cleaning, not to mention my colleague, Nailsea postwoman, Paula Green, who keeps my body in one piece with her very own PG Sports Therapy company, triathlon events may be something I move towards in the coming years too.’
