Olympic and World triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee has celebrated the life-changing moment 25 years ago when he first set and achieved a tough self-imposed challenge.
Desperate to earn his Yorkshire representative vest, and knowing he needed a top-eight finish in the forthcoming cross-country championships to secure it, an enthused 11-year-old Brownlee quickly set about making sure his dream would become a reality.
Sure enough, within a couple of weeks, the young Dewsbury athlete had achieved his goal. A seventh-placed finish was enough to see him proudly presented with his new white running top – a feat which he now believes helped to forge a lasting desire and hunger for more success.
The start of something very big
Brownlee, of course, would go on to become arguably the greatest short-course triathlete of all time, with his Olympic individual golds at London in 2012 and Rio in 2016 having followed on from his World Championship successes in 2009 and 2011.
Writing on his Instagram account this week, he was keen to point out that it was his desire for that coveted county vest which very much set him on his way.
“The First Goal That Stuck…” he wrote. ”I was 11 years old, going for a run during lunch time like I did every other day, when I spotted a mate wearing a white vest with a blue rose on it. It said “Yorkshire” underneath. I remember stopping and asking, “What’s that?” He told me it was the county cross-country vest, you got it if you finished top 8 at the upcoming championships.
“That was it. In that moment, something clicked. I decided I wanted that vest more than anything. It was the first time I really chose a goal. Not one someone gave me, but one that grabbed me and stuck. I trained as hard as I knew how. I came 7th. I got the vest. And I still remember how it felt.
“Since then, I’ve chased plenty of goals. But that was the first time I felt the full force of being pulled towards something, and being willing to work for it. A skinny-kneed 11-year-old, realising what it meant to really want something.”
Now retired from professional competition, the 37-year-old Yorkshireman is focusing on a series of ‘bucket list’ events such as long-distance biking treks and potential ultramarathon challenges. The idea of setting new and exciting goals, clearly still part of this legendary athlete’s DNA.
And it is not just in his running where he finds such inspiration. There is also a need for him to set goals in his other walks of life, such as his work with the Brownlee Foundation which was set up in partnership with his brother Jonathan with the dream of inspiring children to get active and encourage regular participation in sport.
The first goal of many
“This was 25 years ago now,” he wrote in his post. “And while it might seem like a small, irrelevant story, it was a real turning point for me. It was the first time I found a passion, and it gave me something to aim for.
“Since then, I’ve had hundreds of goals. Some small, some life-changing. Many of them were about racing, training harder, going faster, chasing medals. But underneath all of it was the same feeling I had as an 11-year-old: I loved what I was doing, and I wanted to get better at it.
“That’s still true today. The goals look different now, they’re not about Olympic qualification or world titles, but I still believe in having something to work toward. A challenge to shape your days around. And more importantly, I still believe that passion is the foundation for everything.
“Whether it’s running up hills in the Dales, building @brownleefoundation & @truefuels, or just trying to learn something new, if you care about it, you’ll find a way to make it matter.”
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