Karen's story; I’ve been given the chance to represent Team GB on 18th August 2018 in Germany, and a new bike would really help me achieve my dream to perform at my very best and hopefully win a gold medal for Team GB. These events are very hard to finance, so I am now looking for help with funding.

I am 48 years old and have been doing triathlon for about 8 years and completed my first triathlon in 2009. Two years later, I won my first sprint Triathlon for my age group. This inspired me to try a longer distance and eventually I started winning events, not just at age group level, but overall. I then found out about GB Age Group Triathlon, which gives people the opportunity to compete for their country at European and World Championship events. In order to compete, there are a number of qualifying events where you have to finish in the top 4, in order to qualify. In 2012 I decided to try and qualify for the World Championships in London as this was a home event, I knew it was going to be difficult to get a place. With great determination, I managed to get a place and this was the first time that I competed for team GB. I felt very proud to be wearing my team kit and enjoyed every moment!

As an endurance runner, I felt that the longer distances were more suited to me, and so I decided to go for the European Middle Distance Championships in Majorca in 2014. I won my local triathlon at this distance and this gave me automatic qualification for this event. This was my first real success, as I came second in my age group and so I received my first European Silver Medal. I continued training and increasing my distance and completed two long distance triathlons. Consisting of a 2.4 mile swim , a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon 26.2 mile run, raced in that order and without a break; my best time being 11hr 52m. I then qualified for GB Age Group for the long distance European Triathlon Championships in Weymouth, and recently in Almere, Amsterdam for which I received a silver medal in each; three silver medals to date.

I have also competed in the European Championships in Poland where I just missed out on a podium place, but did achieve my Personal Best of 11hr 00m 18sec. I would love to try and break the 11hr time and also win that elusive gold medal. Unfortunately, my bike is 8 years old and not as modern or as fast as the other competitors bikes and I think that this is handicapping me and preventing me from achieving my goals. Thank you for reading my story and any contribution will be very gratefully received, no matter how small.