Lauren Brandon

Lauren Brandon found her passion for triathlon at a late stage, but has managed to more than make up for any lost time by winning a host of accolades since taking to the sport in 2010.

Brandon, a former NCAA All-American swimmer from the University of Nebraska, began her triathlon journey racing over the Olympic distance initially, before changing to longer races in 2015.

She made the move to full IRONMAN races in 2016 and despite failing to finish on her first attempt, she ended her season with an impressive second place at Cozumel.

Since then, she has added multiple 70.3 podiums to her resume as well as obtaining her first win in Ecuador in 2018. Her first IRONMAN success at Boulder in 2019 also coincided with a stunning course record, stopping the clock at 9:09:09 hours.

Lauren’s strong swim/bike combo is regarded as one of the best in the business and she is excited to continue her quest to become one of the best long-distance triathletes in the world. Her husband, Barrett Brandon is also a professional triathlete and helped her make the transition to the longer distance races.

Despite all of her success though, Lauren admits she is scared of heights and has previously had panic attacks going up climbs on the bike, forcing her to turn around.

Burger and fries would be considered a cheat meal for Lauren and she can’t live without coffee, whilst also having a strange quirk when it comes to eating M&Ms.

She says: “I have to eat treats in even numbers and chew the same colour on each side. So for example, one yellow M&M on my right side and then one yellow M&M on the left side.”

As for any advice to give out to up-and-coming triathletes meanwhile (outside of candy strategy), it would be “to not forget to have fun. I always race better when I'm having fun”.