Susie Cheetham

Susie Cheetham is a multiple half and full-distance winner who has also racked up the podiums, and two sixth places at Kona, since she turned professional in 2012.

A former runner for Great Britain, she got into triathlon after doing some cross-training on the bike and joining her partner (now husband) in his IRONMAN training.

Her first race was 70.3 Antwerp in 2011, where she won her age group, and when she returned a year later as a pro she claimed second place.

The first win came in 2013 at 70.3 Aix en Provence, achieved while she was still combining her training with a full-time job. That continued for the first three years of her pro career.

More wins came at 70.3 Norway in 2014, 70.3 Dublin and Challenge Sardinia Forte Village in 2015, while that summer she was seventh at the 70.3 World Championship in Zell am See.

Susie had also excelled at the full distance by now, taking third at her first attempt in IRONMAN Barcelona. And her results meant she qualified for Kona, where she finished an impressive sixth.

But from that high Cheetham fell to a juddering low, one she calls the most painful moment of her career. Crashing her bike at 70.3 South Africa in 2016 left her with a broken elbow, but she still finished not only the bike leg but the run too.

"I face-planted on the motorway. I managed to get back to T2 with a bone pointing out of my elbow and some pretty nasty road rash,” she says.

“Medical wrapped me up, and I shuffled the half marathon. I didn't realise how much pain I was in until I finished the race."

She battled back to full fitness and soon returned to winning ways, defending her title at IRONMAN 70.3 Dublin and well as bagging first place at Challenge Salou.

The maiden full-distance win came in 2017 at IRONMAN Brazil in a course-record time, and Susie backed that up with another sixth place at Kona.

2019 was arguably the best season to date for Cheetham, with a win at IRONMAN Hamburg in a sub-nine-hour time.

Susie loves every aspect of training, explaining: "I left university and started my career, but then somehow ended up switching into pro triathlon.

“I'm proud of that but also pinch myself every day that I get to call it my job!"

While Susie has proved she can fight through the pain barrier, there is one that genuinely scares her.

"Cows in a field. It's like they love my smell or something; they always chase me on my runs. And 2020 has been a bad year for being chased. I end up doubling the distance of my runs to avoid them!"