Welcome to our monthly feature on Tri247, supported by Gatorade (www.gatorade.co.uk). We know (because we have the statistics…), that races and race results are one of the most popular and well used resources on the site, which thousands of you rely upon. In association with Gatorade, we'll be profiling our Athlete of the Month from that information.

Our choice may be based on one, or perhaps a combination of factors including:

• Outstanding performance at one race,
• Consistent performances over a number of events,
• Recognition of an athletes efforts over many months, years…or even decades in some cases!
• Overcoming setbacks, challenges or obstacles.

Or indeed, any other reason we can think of. We will also be asking you for your nominations.

As well as the recognition, each monthly winner will receive:

• Six month's supply of Gatorade
• A limited edition Gatorade bike top
• Six Gatorade bike bottles
• Two Gatorade gym bottles
• A Gatorade towel
• A personalised certificate

At the end of the year, one athlete out of the twelve will be selected as the overall Athlete of the Year.

December 2008: Carle Green

For December we've chosen our Athlete of the Month as someone who is very new to triathlon, but has managed to produce some fantastic performances in that time, culminating in a debut Ironman at Ironman Western Australia in December of 9:22:53.

Carle Green only discovered triathlon in May 2008, after joining BAD Tri (www.badtri.org) in Bristol, attending their training camp, having done no swimming and ridden his bike about "five or six times beforehand"... and returned hooked on the sport, after several years of running marathons.

We called Carle to give him the news on this award.

"Until May 2008 I was a marathon runner. I was running about nine times per week - twice a day for three days, once for three days and one day off typically - but I kept picking up injuries. I'm relatively heavy as a runner (around six feet tall / 82kg), and so I was looking for something else, initially really to help the running." What level did you get too? "My best marathon was 2:48, though I did Berlin in 2007 and was hoping for around 2:40, but I got injured during the race."

So how did you get from that, to starting triathlon and then doing a (very fast) Ironman so quickly? "I went on the BAD Tri training camp, and after riding so many hours each day, I loved it and came back buzzing, having found a sport that I felt suited me. I happen to work with Mark Stenning (a very experienced and succesful triathlete), and he has been helping and coaching me since July last year. I did the Vitruvian, and that went well (4:24 / 34th). I was going on holiday to Australia and knew about the Ironman race, and decided to focus on that."

How much training were you doing? "I built up to a peak of around 25/26 hours per week before Australia. Once I tapered that down before the race, I found I was going much quicker than I thought, and as a result the race went far better than I expected."

How about the day job? "I'm an accountant. I'm shortly moving to work part-time (around 3/4 days per week), so I can better accomodate my training. I'm really keen to work hard, and see how good I can get."

"For 2009 the main planned events are Ironman Austria in July, and then Challenge Barcelona in October. I'm also planning to do Winchester and the Swashbuckler Middle Distance in May, before Austria. As I'm fairly big, my strength is really on the flat, which is why we chose those two races."

Any particular time or position goals? "really, to just try and improve on Australia. I was 8th in Age Group / 50th overall out of around 1200, so if I can do relatively better than that, I'll be happy." And Kona? "Not for 2009, but I'd like to go - and race well - in either 2010 or 2011."

Have you been able to obtain any sponsorship? "Yes, MOTI (www.mymoti.com) a running shop in Bristol help me with running equipment, and I'm also part of the BAD Tri/Fred Baker Cycles team (www.fredbakercycles.co.uk), which assist with race kit and reduced cost of equipment/servicing etc, so I'm really lucky and pleased with both of those.

Keep your eyes out for Carle in 2008, with that sort of debut there could be a lot more to come!

2008 Gatorade Athlete of the Month winners

Do you know anyone who deserves this award? If so, tell us! Get in touch with us on aotm@tri247.com and tell us who you would like us to recognise and why.