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From Slateman to Snowman: The Story Behind Always Aim High Events
453 Plays17 days ago
In this episode of UKTriChat, Scott Hill sits down with Always Aim High Events co-founder Tim Lloyd to talk about the journey behind some of the UK’s most iconic adventure triathlons. From the origins of Slateman, Sandman and Snowman, to building a thriving endurance community in North Wales, Tim shares stories from over a decade of event organising, athlete experiences, and life in the sport.
They discuss the rise and challenges of triathlon participation, the impact of Ironman and social media on grassroots racing, and why community, inclusivity and adventure still matter more than ever. Tim also reflects on athlete safety, mental health, destination racing, and the emotional moments that stay with him from years behind the finish-line microphone.
Whether you’re a seasoned triathlete, a first-timer, or someone looking for inspiration to get active, this episode is packed with insight, honesty and a huge passion for endurance sport in the UK.
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Transcript
Introduction to UK Tri Chat with Tim Lloyd
00:00:01
Scott Hill
Hi, good morning. Welcome to another episode of UK Tri Chat with myself, Scott Hill from TriWolf Triathlon Coaching. Pleased to say today we've got Tim Lloyd from Always Aim High Events on on the the podcast today. So we're going to talk about everything about Always Aim High. I guess Tim, just first of all i though if you want to give you an introduction on yourself and your background and your involvement. I believe you were the founder of Always Aim High Events.
00:00:21
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, yeah. Morning, Scott. Hi, everyone. It's good good to be here. Yeah. So um actually, i'm um when you say Tim Lloyd from Always In My Events, Tim Lloyd retired from Always In My Events. He's probably more accurate because i did we did retire last year. There's there's two of us actually who were the company owners, myself and my friend Nigel Kendrick. Yeah, we founded Always In My in 2010.
00:00:45
Tim Lloyd
and with a focus on triathlon. I mean, that's that's sort of where it all started with the Slate Man Triathlon in San Berris. My background has always been in sport, so I was an Olympic ski racer ah and, you know, I competed in ski racing as a sort of a kid, junior, senior, went on to coach the Olympic team and I retired from that in 1992. and joined the fire service, which is where I spent 30 years alongside, always working with athletes. And sort of multi-sport, I did i did a lot of adventure racing stuff with, I worked with Salomon and their sponsored athletes. Got got into multi-sport that way. So i got into some summer sports from winter sports.
The Transition of Always Aim High Events
00:01:25
Tim Lloyd
And that's what led to Always in My Events um and and the creation of that company in 2010. Last year, we we actually sold out to Run for Wales, who are organisers of the Cardiff Half Marathon. Run for Wales is under the sort of the the the ownership of of of London Marathon events. So so essentially, Always in My, we wanted to leave it in very safe hands. ah And so we felt that... that
00:01:52
Tim Lloyd
Run for Wales being a Welsh business with a Welsh focus. and but But also under the sort of you know that protective arm of London Marathon events was a good place ah to leave it because because we were both sort of approaching retirement
The Impact of the Slate Man Triathlon
00:02:07
Tim Lloyd
age. So that's that's so that's that that's a little bit about our background. and And now it all happened. So, yes, Slate Man was the first event and triathlon you know took us by surprise, actually, because I'd been organizing fell races for years, but never triathlon.
00:02:21
Tim Lloyd
And you know always as a volunteer and and always you know you know ah just as a hobby. Fell running was in in my blood. I did it my whole whole childhood. I ran the first ever snowman race at seven years old.
00:02:33
Tim Lloyd
so um so So, yeah, it was like like we we got into triathlon.
00:02:34
Scott Hill
Thank you.
00:02:38
Tim Lloyd
The first event was the Slate Man in 2011. And it completely took us by surprise because we didn't expect it to be as popular as it was. And the Slate Man being an event back in 2011, which was sort of a little bit out there, a little bit different to what most people were organizing at that point in time. really captured the imagination and and that and it grew very very quickly and hence why was in high became so sort of heavily involved in in triathlon events not only in north wales but you know we we put on events all over really it was great
00:03:15
Scott Hill
I say you've got events all over Wales now, but obviously you mentioned their retirement. You're not quite retired. I believe you're still involved in the sports commentating and stuff like that. So although you've handed it over to SafeHands, you've still got your toes still in there a little bit.
00:03:28
Tim Lloyd
Exactly, yeah. So i do the I still do the finish line commentary at all the always in my events. And actually, a little bit of high rocks now as well, which is quite good fun. and So, yeah, so I'm still sort of keeping my, like say, as you say, keep keeping your hand in a little bit.
00:03:41
Tim Lloyd
And keeping it, it's nice to be to stay in touch with that community, isn't it, when you've been involved in it all your life. You can't just move
Community in Outdoor Sports
00:03:47
Tim Lloyd
away from it completely.
00:03:47
Scott Hill
and you've always yeah mean you're from Wales yourself anyway so you obviously got your grassroots there and everything else and you've grown something from that from being at home from your Olympic career obviously into coaching and then so on from there but I guess the Solomon side of it and the running stuff it's quite close to your heart as well with regards to you've handed it over to
00:03:48
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:03:55
Tim Lloyd
Mm-hmm.
00:04:00
Tim Lloyd
yeah yeah
00:04:06
Scott Hill
obviously a running events company as such. So it's still, it's still all intertwined in some way or another, be it through in or, you know, triathlon or whatever, it may be even cycling events now with all of them high.
00:04:12
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:04:17
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, I mean, and you know yourself, Scott, how, you know, it's quite a small community that, you know, that sort of outdoor sports community, even though, you know, we're talking about mass participation events and, you know, thousands of people taking taking part, the actual industry is is is quite small. It's quite sort of small. lots people every Most people know each other, you know, it's, um so so, yeah, it's, um it it's a it's a nice thing to to be able to have done that but also to still be involved in in some way because it's not only about it's not only about work but it's also about friends isn't it friendship and community that's that's really what brings most people into it and you know you don't you can't just walk away from that
00:04:55
Scott Hill
I've definitely, I've got lifelong friends I've met in the sport now and will be probably friends for a long time.
00:05:03
Tim Lloyd
yeah yeah
00:05:03
Scott Hill
Don't ever see that changing. You know, you you do get fully immersed in the sport. um And it, you know, it's cliche to say that it becomes part of your lifestyle, but a hundred percent does, especially if you want to be not necessarily, you know, be like podium age groups and stuff like that. But if you want to stay active and you want to travel different areas and see different landscapes, wherever it may be, the UK or abroad,
00:05:26
Scott Hill
you kind of do see and meet people. It could be anywhere global. I mean, I've met people on the other side of the world doing events and, you know, come along to all them high ones over the years and you see people that I might not see for the rest of the year, but you talk to them like they're your mates and you've known them and you just meet them on social media and you're chatting, you send pictures and just chatting and it's good.
00:05:33
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:05:44
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:05:44
Scott Hill
It's that community spirit. And I think that's the good thing with, with this type of sport.
00:05:49
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. And really, honestly, ah you know, that's what... what you, you know, I think we all want to try and keep hold of and and and nurture and and and continue into the future. I do think it's under threat actually, Scott. ah i don't want I don't want to be a i don't want to be you know, like sort of kind of like sort of going down the the wrong sort of path here and um in this conversation we're having. But um so my my experience is it it does feel like it's little under threat. i think I'm not sure that social media is always a great thing because you know we we know, don't we, how much sort of controversy, if that's the right word.
00:06:25
Tim Lloyd
that that can that can generate. But um it's that community thing, you know, that's what's really important. That's what people, that's what draws people in, you know, at grassroots level. And as you get as you sort of work your way up the you know the ladder in in in ah in the events world and in in your own personal sort of challenges, it's important that you don't lose that that community aspect and that community spirit. I
Success Factors of Adventure Triathlons
00:06:48
Tim Lloyd
really feel that that's super important. And I don't think that that's always the case.
00:06:55
Scott Hill
I'd agree. Social media is good, but it's also bad. It has, it's got pros and cons and, you know, we see a lot of stuff out there, even with just triathlon advice and whatever it may be, that people are pulling things and advertising it because they're very good at social media, but it's not necessarily the right thing to be saying or doing in every aspect, not even a sport in a lot ways, but, um,
00:07:14
Scott Hill
I think um it's a difference it's ah' it's a change in time and I probably see this through my career as well with the way people are and how people take on careers. I don't know, maybe there's a difference there within the sport as well. And you mentioned you're dabbling in the high rocks as well and that seems to be a good uptake in sport that's global. And i think I even saw on the news either today or yesterday that they're looking at that within the Olympics world as well. So that's a growing sport.
00:07:39
Tim Lloyd
yeah that Yeah, definitely. and lot like I agree completely. like Social media obviously has massive positive impacts in many, many ways. but and And that's where we need to focus, isn't it I think? That's where people... It's so easy to get drawn into the into the negatives.
00:07:56
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:07:57
Tim Lloyd
And it's quite hard not to do that. it's quite hard to avoid it. And um to be honest, I don't know how how to avoid it because I get drawn into them as well. I mean, we're coming to local elections here. It's horrible, some of the stuff that that we see on social media.
00:08:08
Tim Lloyd
but um But focusing on the positive things is is really what we've got people to do. And, like say, maintaining those really nice community aspects in the sport, in triathlon, that keep will keep people in the sport.
00:08:23
Scott Hill
So, I mean, you you mentioned Slate Man's the first event that you set up in 2011.
00:08:25
Tim Lloyd
Yeah,
00:08:29
Tim Lloyd
yeah.
00:08:29
Scott Hill
um And it took you by surprise and, you know, it was a bit of a booming success, I guess. But I've raced that race many times in different variants. The landscape there is just, it's it's phenomenal.
00:08:42
Scott Hill
And I've been up there and trained there every now and then as well. And it is phenomenal. And I think that, for me, is what sells the event, you know, the the landscape, the people, the um just that environment about being outdoors and i guess that for me that's what sport is it's about being outdoors and when you're in when you're outdoors and you're in somewhere special that looks the way it looks when when it's you know the sun is shining because it can be polar opposite as well um
00:09:00
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:09:11
Scott Hill
For me, that was just phenomenal.
00:09:11
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:09:12
Scott Hill
You know, I love being in that lake and looking back and just looking towards Snowdon and just be like, wow. and i've And I've got a picture that I regularly look at up there on a training, just swimming in that lake and looking back at Snowdon because a friend of mine took the picture and it just, it's just phenomenal.
00:09:28
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, I mean, is i mean that that whole series, you know, there's three events on that, on that what what we call the Adventure Triathlon series, Slate Man, Sand Man and Snow Man Triathlon. The three of them are equally as as it fantastic, I think. you know Yeah, I'm the founder, but, you know, that's ah you don't need to take my word for it. you know Anybody that races those events will tell you how how wonderful they are. ah for many reasons, but for those that you're talking about, you know, the the those the spectacular environments that the events visit. And the three are completely different. that's That's the other really nice thing. Even though those three events are sort of focused ah around Northwest Wales.
00:10:07
Tim Lloyd
ah Slate Man's in Clamberis, Sand Man is on Anglesey, it's in Newburgh on Anglesey, and the Snow Man is at Plaza Brennan, which is right in the heart of Verruri, the Snowdon in Asher Park.
00:10:17
Tim Lloyd
um
00:10:17
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:10:18
Tim Lloyd
But the three of them are very different. like The Sandman, is it's ah as it would suggest, is in a beach, in that beach environment. But you know really beautiful. it's it's ah It's an area of outstanding natural beauty. Newborough Forest is absolutely stunning location, not just where you are, but the views from there are unbelievable. um And the bike routes. The bike routes, Anglesey is...
00:10:42
Tim Lloyd
is is a beautiful place to ride your bike so so that's the sandman the slate man the original slate man takes you around snowdonia erery um but around the sort of you know slightly different parts to of erery to the the the snowman um and finish starting finishing in chlamberis which is right at the bottom of what we call the woodwind now snowden um
00:10:51
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:11:06
Tim Lloyd
it's you know It's amazing. But the run, you know that the think the the big feature about the Slate Man, if you like, is the run which takes you up into the slate quarries in Tamberis. The Denourwock Slate Quarry, it was the biggest slate quarry in the world. It closed down in 1969.
00:11:22
Tim Lloyd
But it's um it's it's like a unique environment that location, environment, what you're going to call it. is like The slate trails are ah fantastic, as you know, because you you've raced there many times. but um always it's like You have to visit it to experience it because there's nowhere else like it. So that's that's the Slate Man and then of course the Snowman, which is actually probably my favorite event of them all.
00:11:46
Tim Lloyd
That's at Plaza Brennan. I grew up there. i grew up a couple of miles from there, a few miles from there. And um when I was a kid, when I was young, about 20 odd, I raced the original Placerbrennian Triathlon, you know, back when i in the days when I and i was so reasonably fit. and um And that's where that sort of that that event grew from. There was an event there many, many years ago called the Placerbrennian Triathlon. And so that's where we sort of we recreated that event by by calling it the Snowman. And the sort of names are a little bit quirky, I guess. Slateman, Sandman, Snowman. Originally, put the Snowman on in October.
00:12:21
Tim Lloyd
And we did it one, we had it in one, one year where um there was a little bit snow on the summit of Moil Shabbard.
00:12:21
Scott Hill
Yep.
00:12:27
Tim Lloyd
And that was the idea. But because of, you know, we were very naive back then and we didn't really know anything about triathlon at all. And we thought, I'll be all right. Let's put an event on, you know, late in the year.
00:12:38
Tim Lloyd
Shouldn't be any problem at all. But little did we know about water temperatures and and and so forth for, for swimming so that's why this the um the snowman got bought into the summer months just because you know we couldn't do it later in the year because of the water temperatures but um yeah that was just an amazing event it really is that spectacular the route where where the routes take you the ogwen valley is just incredible um but then the bike route it some of the roads at the bike route explores around the heart of the area national park
00:12:53
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:13:10
Tim Lloyd
They're just beautiful. Some big climbs. It's not easy. It's a really, really tough challenge. But if, if um you know, if triathletes out there haven't tried an event like that, you know, like something which is a little bit different to a city event or, ah you know, a flattish event, then you should try it. Because but one of the things that um always amaze amazes me, like stood on the finish line doing the commentary is,
00:13:35
Tim Lloyd
all the people, the different kind of people, the different body shapes that you see, the different ages that that you see coming in over the finish line, you know just showing that anybody can do it. Anybody can do these events, you know just not just the Always in My events, but any triathlon. People do do think, don't they, that triathlon is probably, a lot of people might think it's beyond them.
00:13:56
Tim Lloyd
But it really isn't, best especially with, you know, now that people like this, folks like yourself out there working with athletes, working with first timers, you know, getting people into the sport and giving them the confidence, encouraging them to do it.
Challenges of Organizing Triathlon Events
00:14:09
Scott Hill
100 that's what it that's what it is i mean it is not it's again it's not about always being you know podium winning athletes it's about having events on for everyone and everyone can go and achieve these and you know the slow snowman route itself went and did this the other week um and you're absolutely right i mean the weather was glorious valleys were amazing you know the descents the climbs on the bikes nothing wasn't not achievable yes you had to climb up a hill on a bike but
00:14:09
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:36
Scott Hill
we can all do that. They're not they're not not achievable. They're not too steep. um But the views on the run, wow. i was It was just something special.
00:14:44
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:45
Scott Hill
i mean The day I went up there, was just clear and you could see for miles. and I got some cracking videos and pictures from doing it. um you know From the bottom, from the swim, to the bike, to the run, it was just phenomenal.
00:14:55
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:14:56
Scott Hill
and That's the same as a Slater Man. know um I remember the first time I did that, and going up the slate zigzags up through the slate mine there, getting your top. And I think at the time, think there was a Red Bull car up there with, you know, giving out energy products and music was just, i I just didn't expect to see that up there. And then, then you go from that into the, into the woods and to some trails.
00:15:17
Scott Hill
Um, and then from the wood trails, you could open up and you see Lake Padman, um, from, from the woods that you're running in. And it you could see, you know, the expo itself and yourself down there on the finish line and you could hear it and just the atmosphere when you come down there. It's, um,
00:15:30
Scott Hill
It's good. it's is I find they are iconic events. They're not your standalone stuff that you're gonna go in a city or a town and do a flat course. They can be challenging, but they're accessible, they're iconic, the scenic, and the community spirit is there with everyone doing them.
00:15:39
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:15:48
Tim Lloyd
we used We used to sort of call them like destination events. so So, you know, putting those events on, it wasn't just about the the the the race itself. It's more about, you know, where you are in, you know, in in the country and and enjoying taking pleasure from that as well as, you know, taking the enjoyment from competing and overcoming your own personal challenges.
00:16:09
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:16:09
Tim Lloyd
doing it in in a beautiful, beautiful environment, you know, somewhere that people, I mean, people, you know, North Wales, the ruralies, Snowdon, the river, now these are holiday destinations. It's like, you know, events in in Cumbria in the Lake District and up in Scotland and know down in Cornwall, those kind of places where people, you know, that it's like, you know, you're getting two two for one, aren't you?
00:16:29
Tim Lloyd
Because you're having a holiday and you're having in your race as well. And that's kind of, that was always an idea.
00:16:33
Scott Hill
So hi how do you find it behind the scenes then with, obviously, i I'm assuming you need local volunteers, logistics.
00:16:35
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:16:40
Scott Hill
How does that all work being in somewhere that's relatively quite relevant?
00:16:42
Tim Lloyd
It's hard. I mean, organizing triathlon events is difficult. there's there's no there's no sort of there's There's no sort of way around that. is you know Essentially, if you're organizing three races in one, aren't you Because you've got your swim race, your bike race, and your run race.
00:16:55
Tim Lloyd
um And from an organizer's perspective, triathlon events, are you know like they can be quite stressful. they know being perfectly honest, because putting lots of people into ah into a lake or into the sea to swim is potentially, it's it's you know it's it's it can be dangerous. As as we know, we've seen you know ah what can happen. and So managing the risk is always you know is was always the biggest concern for us. I mean, thankfully, I am touching wood now, as I tellt say this, Scott.
00:17:26
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:17:26
Tim Lloyd
we had we had ah We had a fantastic track record Ozym High.
00:17:30
Tim Lloyd
You know, we had a couple of of sort of accidents so as as about to happen, but that was the worst that we ever had um because we were absolutely meticulous about athlete safety. um And that was always the biggest concern.
00:17:46
Tim Lloyd
And swimming and biking, especially biking on open roads, You know, they're they're your two biggest concerns, aren't they? so So that was always hard. um And organising triathlon events are hard, especially when you, you know, you take it as as serious as as we did at OZMI and as they still do at OZMI.
00:18:07
Tim Lloyd
Because, you know, you can't you can't cut corners. You have to make sure that everything is done exactly as it should be. um I mean, I've been to events out there where where you see the corners are being cut and and you think, blimey, are they getting away with this?
00:18:17
Scott Hill
Well,
00:18:23
Tim Lloyd
But that that was never that was never the approach that was in mind and and it still isn't. so So, yeah, it's hard work. It really is hard work. And the event organising, putting on an event, like the Slateman Triathlon, for example, takes a full year.
00:18:37
Tim Lloyd
So we would start organising, you know, the day after the event, of one year, begin the organisation for the following year's race. it does It does take a long time and it's not only about the sort of I don't know, like the local logistics in the village there, but you've you know because we we tended to, that we had we had a a couple of philosophies early on. We wanted we didn't want to do biked course, la sorry, lapped courses, for example.
00:19:04
Tim Lloyd
I mean, it does happen now on on on I think there's maybe one or two events, certainly down in Cardiff, we did the Cardiff Triathlon, it was a closed road event, and we had a limited amount of road that we could use.
00:19:14
Tim Lloyd
So we had to lap the bike course. But um but in those on those adventure triathlons, you know having single lap bike routes, and especially when now that we're doing like sort of legend distance, which is, you know, half iron distance,
Sustainability Concerns in Triathlons
00:19:26
Tim Lloyd
what you want to call it?
00:19:26
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:19:28
Tim Lloyd
It's a lot of road. You've got a marshal, you've got a signpost, you've got to have permission from, you know, the local authorities, the local communities, all the, you know, there's there's there's so much goes into that, the planning and then the delivery of it.
00:19:42
Tim Lloyd
You know, you think about, yeah i used to talk, you know, again, I'm probably going to sound controversial, but, you know, I'm a longstanding event organiser. And I've seen a lot of late, what i we used to call lazy events. People putting events on, getting people in, you know doing a you know I don't know, 2K run route, lap you know just lapping it, tight lap after lap after lap. Same with bike route, lap after lap after lap. That's lazy event organizing. That's what it is, whether you like it or not. It's easy for the organizer. It's not great for the competitor.
00:20:09
Scott Hill
yeah
00:20:09
Tim Lloyd
That is not what you get always in my events, I can promise you.
00:20:12
Tim Lloyd
like Always in my, you know, it's not mine anymore, don't have to sell it, but always in puts on events where you as the competitor are going to have a fantastic experience because you're not just going around in laps.
00:20:23
Tim Lloyd
you are We're sending you out on a journey around beautiful parts of the world. Yeah.
00:20:28
Scott Hill
i think generally i think whales whales are pretty good at keeping um
00:20:32
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:20:32
Scott Hill
the The roads up to good condition as well. I think with, you know, tourism obviously it plays a big part in Wales.
00:20:37
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:20:37
Scott Hill
So I think with that, their road condition tends to be very good as well compared to a lot of places in the UK.
00:20:40
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:43
Scott Hill
So that's nice.
00:20:44
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. So, um so, so it was, how it was, it answered to your question, I suppose is, yeah, it was tough. Organizing triathlon events is, is, is not easy, especially actually, you know, with sort of recent in, when I say recent, probably in the last sort of 10 years, sort of declining numbers makes it hard because when you put on an event, like, like a legend distance at one of those, that slate man, sand man, snow man,
00:21:08
Tim Lloyd
The costs are like incredibly high, ah you know they and and with decreasing numbers, it makes it it makes it really quite you know quite difficult to to sustain those events into the future because you know when you're when you're organizing when when you're running a business,
00:21:25
Tim Lloyd
Like it or not, that business can't run at a loss. It has to at least break even or make a small profit. So you've got ah you've got to consider thats alongside you know all that all those those growing costs and the costs have gone up so much in recent years alongside numbers dwindling, especially post-COVID in triathlon, numbers have have dropped off and that is a concern.
00:21:46
Tim Lloyd
It was a concern of mine when I was at Ozzy My is how do we...
00:21:49
Scott Hill
Yeah, we COVID covids still got a lot to answer for in a lot of ways, I think.
00:21:50
Tim Lloyd
how do we
00:21:53
Scott Hill
We talk about this for a lot podcasts that do, that we still talk about COVID from like as if it was yesterday, but it's a number of years ago now, but we still we're still finding impacts of that now.
00:21:56
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:22:01
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. yeah
00:22:04
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:22:06
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:22:06
Tim Lloyd
Brilliant. I mean, like, Aria events, you know, sha Shane Oley is the guy that I know quite well and recently went out of business and still saying we never, ever recovered from COVID.
00:22:18
Scott Hill
yeah
00:22:18
Tim Lloyd
So yeah, it is. so But triathlon generally, I mean, I don't really understand why. Well, I do actually. I have a theory, but i'm not sure I should share it with you because it probably is a little bit controversial.
00:22:30
Tim Lloyd
ah
00:22:30
Scott Hill
I'll happy just hear it.
00:22:31
Tim Lloyd
um the what The dwindling numbers in triathlon, I think it's definitely cost related.
00:22:37
Scott Hill
Yeah, that'd be great.
00:22:37
Tim Lloyd
that's that's the That's the first thing because triathlon is not a cheap sport to to take part in. Not only entry fees quite expensive, but the amount of kit that people have to have. have It does put it out of reach for a lot of people. um But also, coupled with that, I mean, the boom in Ironman triathlon, in fact, I was looking this morning online at Ironman and what's going on, that event sold out, 70.3 events charging that 650 entry
00:23:09
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:23:10
Tim Lloyd
sold out events, you know, how does always in compete with that? i mean, you can do a legend event that always in my events and it costs you 250 quid, you know, that's like a third of the price almost of an iron man.
00:23:19
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:23:20
Tim Lloyd
And yet they're struggling for competitors when those, I know that those events are always in my events are absolutely brilliant, but you know, people can't can't afford it.
00:23:26
Scott Hill
think I think I'd agree. Yeah.
00:23:29
Tim Lloyd
That's the problem. Like Ironman, everybody wants to do Ironman.
00:23:30
Scott Hill
or
00:23:31
Tim Lloyd
So they pay in, you know, grand to do an Ironman event. Well, they've got no money left to then go and do, you know, your local events or your, yeah.
00:23:39
Scott Hill
yeah I think some of this comes down to cost i think it's a social media aspect it's you know everyone right there now is an influencer and that's how they sell themselves they sell business everything else it's all social media driven and I think and I agree we see that someone you know it's
00:23:44
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:23:48
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:23:56
Scott Hill
The marathon's not the go-to anymore. It's someone wants to do an Ironman.
00:24:00
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:24:01
Scott Hill
They want that that kudos, you could say, you know that typical term.
00:24:03
Tim Lloyd
yeah yeah
00:24:04
Scott Hill
um So they enter it, and then they're really good on social media, and they advertise and do everything they do on social media, and it just encourages other people to go and do that.
00:24:14
Scott Hill
of
00:24:14
Tim Lloyd
Okay.
00:24:15
Tim Lloyd
Okay.
00:24:15
Scott Hill
I don't think people necessarily have to go and do an Ironman. I definitely think it's worthwhile people staying active in whatever sport. But even if they are going and doing an Ironman, I still think it's key to go and do some other events to learn, to develop, to try your kit out, to try your nutrition out, to learn the sport. Because I've stood on the the start line of many an Ironman and I've listened to people having a conversation that I've never swam in the sea.
00:24:40
Scott Hill
I've never swam through an 8K. Um, you know, and and in some cases both, and that you stood on the start line of of an open water sea swim, which may not even be wearing a wetsuit.
00:24:51
Scott Hill
They've got no buoyancy.
00:24:52
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:24:52
Scott Hill
Um, and if it's from that and they're, and they're talking about how they've never swam the distance, never swam in open water and never swam in the sea. And I like absolutely like,
00:24:58
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:25:02
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:25:02
Scott Hill
let's ah And we wonder why people unfortunately pass away by doing this because it's not a case of just getting in there and having a nice leisurely swim.
00:25:07
Tim Lloyd
yeah that
00:25:12
Scott Hill
There's choke points. Yes, you can get a bit of space now because you know people get they might be it might not be a must start. It could be you know every three seconds, every five seconds, three, four, five people might go.
00:25:21
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:23
Scott Hill
But at some point within that, you're gonna hit a choke point and that'll be around a buoy when they turn left or right or U-turn or whatever it may be. And you're gonna take some knocks and that's what puts people into panic. So they could get a panic from being in, you can't just grab the side of a pool, you know can't grab ah grab a pool lane or the edge of the pool.
00:25:41
Scott Hill
You're in some cases, one mile straight out in the open ocean or more.
00:25:46
Tim Lloyd
yeah yeah Yeah, I mean, it is it's is's difficult, Scott, because obviously Ironman has a massive positive impact on the sport as well. So it can't it's not it's not all negative.
00:25:57
Tim Lloyd
you Like you say, the amount of publicity that Ironman has given to triathlon out there on social media and on the TV and, you know, whatever is fantastic.
00:26:01
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:26:05
Tim Lloyd
You know, people tattooing themselves because they've you know they've done an event. It says it all. um But somehow or another, you know i don't know, governing bodies, whoever it is who has authority and responsibility and accountability needs to try and sort of factor it all in and and piece all the pieces of jigsaw together somehow so that it all fits.
Grassroots and Health Benefits of Triathlons
00:26:29
Tim Lloyd
Because like local organisers, like always in my events, local coaches like yourself, all have a sort of are all a piece of the jigsaw and we all have a part to play.
00:26:39
Tim Lloyd
But what we don't want is for for is is for just that one massive piece of the jigsaw at the top to to sort of crush everything else you know underneath it. it's all They've all got to kind of work together in order for it all to succeed.
00:26:51
Tim Lloyd
Because you know in order for Ironman to succeed, there does need to be some kind of grassroots for people to get into the sport at the bottom and work their way up.
00:26:57
Scott Hill
then for their longevity in it, yeah.
00:27:00
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, yeah. And so that was that was my concern was that it always feels a little bit, at the moment, it feels very top heavy. And it actually, interestingly, you know, ah I've also have a great deal of experience in in trail running. And the same thing is happening in trail running with UTMB.
00:27:15
Scott Hill
Okay.
00:27:15
Tim Lloyd
You know, and UTMB and Ironman is the same company, essentially.
00:27:18
Tim Lloyd
They're owned by the same people. um So I know it's controversial. And... but but it probably needs to be said. It should be said on places like this, on podcasts. This is where, you know, these conversations needs to happen.
00:27:30
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:27:31
Scott Hill
It goes back to that point.
00:27:32
Scott Hill
Originally, we were talking about social media and we always see the positives. You never see negatives and stuff like that. and People need to share the negative side of it and and make sure voices are heard from every level, from grassroots athletes all the way up to the ones that are
00:27:32
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:27:37
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:27:42
Tim Lloyd
who
00:27:46
Tim Lloyd
yeah yeah
00:27:46
Scott Hill
earn the living from it because don't believe it all does always, all part of that jigsaw it all does help and it all does help us as people develop um people but obviously as athletes as well and then obviously hopes hopefully the sport will be here for many more years to come.
00:27:53
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:27:59
Scott Hill
I mean, you've been...
00:28:00
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, yeah it would look i'd I'd love to see this like like ah a regrowth. twenty twelve London 2012 was brilliant for triathlon, wasn't it? You know, the Brownlees, you know, doing what they were doing at the time.
00:28:11
Tim Lloyd
In the UK, it was brilliant. And that's where we saw that sort rapid growth in triathlon, certainly for us as those organising those events that we were doing at the time.
00:28:16
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:28:20
Tim Lloyd
We saw the numbers grow massively. Slate Man, we had to put up two days because we couldn't do it on a single day. We had to do the same with the Sandman. you know At one point, I think we had about 2,000 entries in the Slate Man.
00:28:32
Scott Hill
Yep. Yep.
00:28:32
Tim Lloyd
Now it's down probably about 500. So that's how much it's dropped you know since then, since probably mid, you know maybe 2014, 2015, it was at peak. um So in 10 years, it you know it really has. And it it would be fantastic to see it grow again, wouldn't it? Because I'm actually a like a total... yeah um as ah you know As a sport, I'm totally bought into triathlon because I used to do... When I was ski racing and and afterwards, running was always my sport. And that's what I did to keep fit. And that was my main source of training. But...
00:29:04
Tim Lloyd
you Too much running always like always sort of always resulted in injur injuries for me. um And I've seen so many other people, like the athletes I've worked with and managed and coached over the years, who you know too much running leads to injury.
00:29:17
Tim Lloyd
It virtually always happens. But multisport...
00:29:20
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:29:22
Tim Lloyd
to me was the answer and having you know choosing something like triathlon where you have to cycle, you have to swim, you have to do some gym work, you have to do some you know some other kind of activity to to maintain and and to build the the right kind of fitness.
00:29:38
Tim Lloyd
Was it, was, was it like, kind of, for for me, I kind of sort tripped upon it because, you know, all of a sudden I could train and I was working with athletes who were training and not suffering the same injuries as they would when they were just focused on running. So I'm totally bought into triathlon as a, as a way to keep fit, if nothing else, a way to keep fit.
00:29:57
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:29:57
Tim Lloyd
Cause that's, you can do it without getting injured.
00:29:59
Scott Hill
Yeah. Well, I always say it's our head that knows we're doing s swim, bike and run, but our body mechanics and the way it works, you know, our cardiovascular system, any exercises, stimulating that and and and generating fitness and growth and everything there.
00:30:04
Tim Lloyd
Hmm.
00:30:10
Scott Hill
So it does, it is that balance.
00:30:11
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:30:12
Scott Hill
I think that's a good thing that athletes can have if they're working with coaching stuff is just to have the right balance prescribed for them so that they get the best out of them and not doing, you know, the back-to-back running day in, day out, which is going to heighten, you know, injuries as we know.
00:30:26
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:30:27
Scott Hill
how did How did you define the balancing for events, the balancing the beauty side of it with obviously iconic views and everything else with with the brutality?
00:30:34
Tim Lloyd
and
00:30:36
Scott Hill
Because Wales, not just for the hills, but the weather as well can impact as well as we know.
00:30:42
Tim Lloyd
yeah Yeah, that's true actually. And we've had some really tough experiences with the weather's delivered. um But the balance, I mean, the focus, so the number one was always about showcase. So so that was the sort of the USP, if you like, for for us at Oisim High, was to showcase the the area, to showcase. that and And so that was always kind of the first thing, is where do we want to take people when they come to to take part in this event?
00:31:12
Tim Lloyd
where would we like to take them? where would what What parts of this area do we want to show them that we think are the most beautiful parts of of this area? So that was always like the first sort of consideration. And then after that, we would build the routes around that discussion.
00:31:25
Tim Lloyd
um
00:31:26
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:31:27
Tim Lloyd
and And then you've got that, you know, that so that that was the easy bit, if it really. that after after The difficult bit then is, having negotiating the permissions, you know, doing all the sort of risk assessments, the safety, to go ensure and ensuring that the events are safe um and then sort of delivering on the day, you know, with those, like you say, those those things like the weather, which can really put a
Event Management and Youth Engagement
00:31:51
Tim Lloyd
spanner in the works. I mean, there was always there was always contingencies, bad weather contingencies, which very occasionally, you know,
00:31:58
Tim Lloyd
were implemented. Actually, I think in the 15 years that Kenny and i were were operating always in my events, We, I'm trying to think, I think there was only once, only on one occasion, and bear in mind, we must have delivered hundreds and hundreds of triathlon events over that period.
00:32:17
Tim Lloyd
Only once that we had to cancel the swim, which I think is a pretty good track record.
00:32:19
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:32:21
Tim Lloyd
and that was because we always had contingencies. So we knew that if the the wind was coming in from a certain direction, we might have to move the swim to a different location. um because you know of the you know the way especially newburgh sea swim um and in landedno as well that's a sea swim event you know there is parts of the of those bays which are sheltered from the wind so as long as you've considered that and you've built your contingency then then you know most things are doable but that's the difficult bit coming back again coming back to not being a lazy event organizer is considered is trying to do right well what our athletes are paying for a triathlon event
00:33:00
Tim Lloyd
That's what they want to do. They don't to do do a duathlon, they want to do a triathlon. So we have to make sure that we've done everything possible to deliver a triathlon event for those for those paying customers. And that's what we always did.
00:33:10
Tim Lloyd
And um yeah, we somehow or another, that we always managed to deliver. who were you know Yeah, in all that period that time, it's incredible, isn't it?
00:33:17
Scott Hill
That's probably better track record than some other events, having only ever cancelling one swim. ah
00:33:24
Tim Lloyd
Really? Amazing. Yeah.
00:33:25
Scott Hill
You touched on duathlon there. I know always in high offer other events as well. So if people don't swim or can't swim or you know, they're not, they're not a fan of swimming, they can also come along and do a duathlon as well, can't they?
00:33:34
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:33:36
Tim Lloyd
Duathlon, there's always, so at the OZMI event, there's there's always a duathlon option at one of the one of the race distances. And this and actually, we were we were always very inclusive about everything we did. So sprint, standard, ah and and legend distance, or 70.3 distance was was the sort of like that.
00:33:54
Tim Lloyd
They were always available, plus a duathlon. So if you weren't a strong swimmer, there was also a duathlon option. Aquabike is something that duathlon is getting into more now. So we delivered, while I was there, we delivered the Welsh Aquabike Championships on a number of occasions.
00:34:04
Scott Hill
Yep. Yep.
00:34:09
Tim Lloyd
ah There were some pool swim triathlons early in the year, which I don't think there are on the calendar now for always in my eye. But that was something that I was always keen to ensure that that was an option early in the year to a pool swim.
00:34:21
Tim Lloyd
um so So, yeah, and also like i I was always ah an advocate for for for kids and junior stuff as well, that which again, that this was always driven by me personally.
00:34:35
Tim Lloyd
you know Like I said, I ran that first Snowden race at seven years old. My dad was one of the founders of the Erreri Harriers running club. so um So it was always in my sort of blood, if you know what I mean.
00:34:45
Tim Lloyd
As a kid, I'd experienced that. And those experiences that stay with you, don't they? like you'll You'll remember, like, what's your earliest memories? Or one of mine is running the Snowden race at seven years old, coming in over the finish line with the field of lined with people and feeling like you're a you know a an Olympian at seven.
00:34:59
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:35:02
Tim Lloyd
And it's that stays with you. so it's important that...
00:35:04
Scott Hill
Well, I, yeah, it does.
00:35:06
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, sorry.
00:35:07
Scott Hill
say I say I grew up in the highlands of Scotland and I, as a kid, I remember sporting events used to come through there that they had on.
00:35:12
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:35:13
Scott Hill
And I'd be as a kid be on the feed stations, you know, offer stuff out. So, um,
00:35:16
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah. And it's so important that but people like myself organising events continue that legacy that, you know, that today's kids have the same experiences, the opportunities that I had as a kid.
00:35:30
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:35:30
Tim Lloyd
um So, yeah, it is super, super important.
00:35:34
Tim Lloyd
Actually, you know, London Marathon events, You know, their sort of, their philosophy of, you know, it's about participation, it you know, just getting people involved in sport whatever level. It does feel that, you know, that that the future of Always in High is is it is in good hands.
00:35:52
Tim Lloyd
You know, whatever whatever direction it takes, you know and I don't know what direction it'll take, but, you know, hopefully it'll ah it'll be it'll continue to grow, be in good hands and and sort of nurture the future the for people.
00:36:05
Scott Hill
Hopefully. Um, so ah always, I'm high then I've got loads of other events on as well. I believe they've got some cycling events, running events on their calendar. So, I mean, you, you spoke about angle C he said it's great for cycling and they do toward him on.
00:36:12
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:16
Scott Hill
So the side around the whole of angle C, I believe up to a different routes up to a hundred miles.
00:36:17
Tim Lloyd
yep
00:36:21
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah. We actually used to do three sportives.
00:36:22
Scott Hill
Um,
00:36:24
Tim Lloyd
Like the the concept when when we first set it up, like we did there was in Northwest Wales, there there were three counties as Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conway. And so, because I was, I'm from North Wales and one and and this is my home and, you know, I love it so much. i always wanted to showcase these three, this part of the world. And I traveled the world with athletes for for many years and I wanted to bring that back to the UK.
00:36:47
Tim Lloyd
So, um and back to North Wales. So, so that's what we did with triathlon we did across the three counties, Slate Man, Sand Man, Snow Man. Same with cycling, we used to do the Atapirari in Gwynedd, in Carnarvon that was. We used to do the Tour de Mourne on Anglesey and we did one called the Gran Fondo Conway which started at the in Conway town. But again, the the sort of dip in cycling meant that it just wasn't viable to keep those events going. But Anglesey, for some reason,
00:37:14
Tim Lloyd
remained a really popular event, that Tour de Morn.
00:37:16
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:37:17
Tim Lloyd
So that event still happens. That's a brilliant event. it's called the ah Tour de Morn. It's a sportive, the 107 miles, which is the longest one. There's a full lap of Anglesey, which is beautiful. ah It's reasonably flat.
00:37:30
Tim Lloyd
and say i'm gonna I say that with a sort of bit of caution in my voice because it's also very windy on Anglesey. So be anybody who thinks, oh, we can go ride Anglesey, it's easy.
00:37:41
Tim Lloyd
It's actually it's not quite as easy as as you might think. Yeah.
00:37:44
Scott Hill
We were there actually lay last week as a family.
00:37:45
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:37:46
Scott Hill
The weather was amazing, no but we went up for a weekend as a family and stayed and on Anglesey.
00:37:50
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, it is beautiful, in it?
00:37:51
Scott Hill
It's delight.
00:37:52
Tim Lloyd
And those coastal, some of the those coastal locations are an absolutely beautiful. So that's the sportive. And then also running, obviously running being running is, um you know, it's always been popular and can continues to be popular.
00:38:05
Tim Lloyd
um Always in my eye does quite a lot running events, road both road and trail. I think trail is probably more kind of fits the, you know, that that the that USP of Always in My Eye. some beautiful trail races again in North north Wales is is the location. But some of the biggest events at that Snowdonia Trail Marathon, which is which was ah the first one that that that we did, it was at one point the biggest trail race in the UK.
00:38:32
Tim Lloyd
um Suffered slightly now because of UTMB, which sort of came and landed exactly where the Snowdonia Trail Marathon takes place. And this has caused a bit of a negative impact, but still it remains a really popular event.
00:38:47
Tim Lloyd
It's absolutely beautiful, you know, brilliantly organized. And, and yeah, one that you should, if you've never done it, I'd recommend you put it on your calendar because um yeah, it goes different places to, to the where the triathlons go, but, um but a similar experience, you know, exploring some of those lesser known parts of Erruri that,
00:39:07
Scott Hill
I, I, I,
00:39:10
Scott Hill
Well, I quite use it. I quite often go off and do running, it just running training in different environments, different locations.
00:39:16
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:39:18
Scott Hill
And I i just call it, well, it's part of the adventure, right?
Welsh Hospitality and GPX Exploration
00:39:21
Scott Hill
So, and, and what you know, we're here for a lifetime, not long time, you know, it's a slogan.
00:39:21
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:39:25
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. yeah got that
00:39:28
Scott Hill
So get out there, explore, do different things, see different places.
00:39:30
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:39:32
Scott Hill
And for me, i do that on the journey with sport, whether that's triathlon or cycling or running or whatever it may be.
00:39:32
Tim Lloyd
that
00:39:38
Scott Hill
I like to go and do these different things and see a different part of the world. And that might be something as close as well. Well, it's not too far from me, but it's, although it's not far, it's different.
00:39:46
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:39:50
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, ist it is, isn't And it feels, that I always think that for people coming here, like it it feels like you're you are visiting like you're on holiday, for like like you like you're visiting somewhere different.
00:40:01
Tim Lloyd
um And the welcome, actually, that the welcome in Wales is, is Wales has a bit of bad rep, I think, in in in some cases, and it's totally unjustified because there is a really warm welcome here.
00:40:13
Tim Lloyd
You know, when you talk to people, they visit. People don't start to speak Welsh when you walk into the pub. when they were all previously speaking English. If people are speaking Welsh in the pub, it's because it's their first language.
00:40:25
Tim Lloyd
And it actually is. you know I was educated in Welsh. my All my children were educated in Welsh. know it's It's our mother tongue. When we're together, it's what we speak. um so but But that's just like when you go to France and they're speaking French in in the pub. That's what it is. So the bad rep thing is I always think is a bit unjustified because...
00:40:45
Tim Lloyd
there is a really warm welcome here and we want people to come and visit. We want people to come and enjoy this beautiful part of the world. is it's It's way less sort of explored, if you like, then than probably other parts, other national parks in the UK. I mean, the lakes.
00:41:01
Scott Hill
People don't try to speak well.
00:41:01
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:41:02
Scott Hill
The words are too long, right?
00:41:03
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:41:04
Scott Hill
So it's it's too hard to speak. But but yeah, you're right.
00:41:06
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:41:07
Scott Hill
It's the same way you go around the world, you know, and and yeah.
00:41:08
Tim Lloyd
yeah that yeah so but it Yeah, definitely should come. because And if you are if you are interested in any of these events, you know all the gps there's GPX files for all the all the event routes you know online.
00:41:21
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:41:21
Tim Lloyd
You've got to go into the Always In My Events website. download a route onto to your onto your Garmin or onto your watch, whatever, and then go out and try it and enjoy it because some of those routes are, honestly, they're spectacular and they will take you to places that you wouldn't go otherwise. You know, we deliberately try to try to take people to those places that are sort of not the the the honeypots, you know, the tourist honeypots, but places that I know are absolutely gorgeous, but it's not necessarily the highest point, which is what everybody wants to get to.
00:41:53
Tim Lloyd
There's places out there which are, in my opinion, way nicer, but you know nobody knows about them. So have a look on the have a look on the get downloads from GPX files off the Always My Events website and go and have a little explore and see what you think.
00:42:05
Scott Hill
and it really is to do I've done it myself and just sent it to my government and cycled and run the watch is really good you just follow the line
00:42:08
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:12
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:42:13
Scott Hill
But ah obviously, the man on the mic then. So you've been on the mic for for many a year now.
00:42:18
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:42:19
Scott Hill
What would you say has been the most memorable experience for yourself being on that mic then? Has there been an emotional one? Has there been one that's, you know,
00:42:24
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, there's there's not a single, there isn't a single experience, but you you got it right there. Like the emotion, like we always in my events, like when you enter an event, they'll ask you, you know, why are you doing this event? Is that, can you tell us a bit of a story? And and on the finish line, they they give me like um an iPad and it it tells me people's bio as they come in. And some of the things that you read, some of the challenges that people have overcome,
00:42:50
Tim Lloyd
or the personal experiences that that they they are having, you know and what's led them to to take part in that event. I can be in tears on the finish line, like literally you know trying to commentate while fighting back the tears because it's incredible the things that people do.
00:43:01
Scott Hill
And that's...
00:43:07
Tim Lloyd
And I'm not talking about race winners, I'm talking about you know the people that that are out there you know overcoming their own personal battles. And that's that is definitely without you know without doubt the most, the thing that stays with of you the most.
00:43:21
Scott Hill
And that's that's something to keep celebrating sport as well and and advertising.
00:43:22
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:43:24
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
Mental Health and Community in Sports
00:43:25
Scott Hill
Yes, these sporting events are open for everyone and come and come and make it part of your journey, whether whatever that is, whatever you're dealing with, this can help you.
00:43:30
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:43:33
Tim Lloyd
Oh,
00:43:35
Scott Hill
And I'm um um a massive advocate for for sport. It's huge for mental health.
00:43:39
Scott Hill
um
00:43:40
Tim Lloyd
yeah oh yeah.
00:43:40
Tim Lloyd
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:43:44
Scott Hill
And that's the thing with the community, with this sport, is everyone is welcome.
00:43:44
Tim Lloyd
and
00:43:48
Scott Hill
And you see it before, during and after on these events where you are welcome, you're part of yourre part of a team as much as of all the other athletes.
00:43:48
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:43:56
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, there's um there's there's um we always in mind there's an event called Snowden 24 with our 24.
00:43:56
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:44:02
Tim Lloyd
It's a 24 hour challenge up and down, Snowden basically non nonstop. There's a team that came the first year we did it. They came from Essex and the they the team was called Summit Mentality.
00:44:13
Tim Lloyd
um And they made they made a documentary film about these guys because they were from like a sort of um like a deprived area, you know, kids from the street feel like got into boxing or whatever it is that they got into.
00:44:27
Tim Lloyd
and But dealing with mental health issues like you like like you touched on there. And their their whole experience and and coming in and and doing that event was brilliant. And that documentary film, actually, see it's out there on YouTube.
00:44:40
Tim Lloyd
It's a brilliant like little film film to watch when you're overcoming those personal challenges. um It's fantastic and like say, it's not, it probably in some cases, it's more about you know mental fit fitness, mental health, than it is about physical fitness and health.
00:44:54
Scott Hill
Yeah. Yeah. 100%.
00:44:57
Tim Lloyd
And that's something that we've learned much more about, haven't we, in recent years. um how important it is and that's probably one of the reasons i i do it i mean i can see i you know every day i'll go out running or biking or you know i'll do something some kind of physical activity and and i know now it's much more for my mental health than it is for my physical health because if i don't do it you know and i know what you know what how it makes me feel the yeah yeah
00:45:22
Scott Hill
Yeah, 100%. I talk about this with everyone I coach as well as, you know, the stress and the strains of life.
00:45:27
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:45:29
Scott Hill
give yourself half an hour, an hour, just go and you know and do a bit of exercise.
00:45:31
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:45:33
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:45:34
Scott Hill
um have ah Have an event that you want to aim for and look to achieve that and just do little chunks of training here and there to achieve that, just to give you that mental stimulus away from the stresses and strains of life and whatever the struggles are.
00:45:37
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:45:47
Scott Hill
And I think that's vital. This is what i I, for me, it's like I get to train 100% for that. you know It helps me with that. Then obviously go and do these events as well and and make friends that you potentially might not normally rub shoulders with.
00:46:00
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:46:02
Scott Hill
i mean I've got friends that are A&E doctors and you know everything else and I wouldn't normally you know come and talk.
00:46:09
Tim Lloyd
it's ah It's a real leveler, isn't it, Scott?
00:46:09
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:46:11
Tim Lloyd
You're out there, you're out for a run or on your bike, whatever it is. And no matter it doesn't matter who you are, what your background is, what you do, you're all there on exactly the same level. And I find it is a real leveler and and you know everybody respects each other.
00:46:25
Tim Lloyd
cause you're out there doing it and it's you know that that's lovely it's really nice you don't feel you don't feel sort of um judged in in the way that you might do you know in other arenas in other communities because everybody's there on the same level they're not judging judging each other they're just enjoying each other's time and company and yeah
00:46:45
Scott Hill
I guess all those people that are coming to do one of the events, they'll be pleased to know that I believe they've always been wetse wetsuit legal, haven't they? You've never had one where it's never been non-wetsuit. Yeah.
00:46:56
Tim Lloyd
No, not in these adventure triathlons only down in Cardiff, one year in Cardiff, it was like flipping, i couldn't believe like the water was about 20 degrees or something ridiculous or even more.
00:47:05
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:47:05
Tim Lloyd
Um, that was a Cardiff triathlon, but yeah, generally up in, in the mountain sort of environments, it's always a little bit cooler.
00:47:12
Scott Hill
yeah I think i one of the sleigh mounds was a bit chilly um but I've actually had one where it's really quite pleasant to be honest with you I'll be well I'm doing snowman this year anyway so hopefully that'll be nice and warm yeah it's a good course and looking forward to the swim
00:47:16
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:47:20
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:25
Tim Lloyd
Oh, that'd be great. Well, I look forward to seeing you there. I'll definitely give you shower out.
00:47:33
Tim Lloyd
What distance are doing at the snowman?
The Snowman Triathlon Experience
00:47:37
Scott Hill
I'm sure standard distance yeah
00:47:38
Tim Lloyd
Standard. That is a beautiful route. Goes up to the top of Moyle-Shabod, which is probably, know there's a couple of others that held. Ellyn's obviously a a tough one and some of the stuff up in Scotland, but one of the you know one of the toughest run routes on a triathlon, isn't it?
00:47:51
Tim Lloyd
It's got to be because it's it's a steep climb, isn't it? And it's technical, like the underfoot, it's not, know, the...
00:47:56
Scott Hill
It is technical course, that one.
00:47:57
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:58
Scott Hill
I mean, yeah, the bike course, I mean, the the lake's beautiful where it where it's located there, you know, on the bottom of the the valley. You've got spectators can watch it there. i think there's a cafe, isn't there, just behind, so if they want to go and get teal coffee, they can.
00:48:10
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. If you want to get beer, you can have a drink of beer and watch the
00:48:14
Scott Hill
ah The bike course was amazing. It was, what a long descent to start with, you know, and obviously you start to climb back up, which is kind of an anti-clockwise route, isn't it? But it was never anything too challenging. and Yes, there were some climbs in there, but it wasn't not achievable. And then going on to that run, that's a, yeah the terrain is certainly varied.
00:48:38
Scott Hill
You've got a bit of, you know, from going up out of the woods, steep climb, it's almost like steps, isn't it? Then it opens up onto the moorland and then it goes into bit a bit of a wetter area, but a rocky climb as well up to the top. And if it's clear, the view from there was just stunning.
00:48:38
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:48:54
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah. It's beautiful. The um red bull Red Bull voted as snowman amongst the 10 toughest triathlons in the world few years back. um It was great because it was the only one in in the UK that that they'd listed. But also it did win Triathlon of the Year couple of years back in the Welsh Triathlon Awards.
00:49:15
Tim Lloyd
It is a brilliant event. It's a brilliant event.
00:49:16
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:49:17
Tim Lloyd
and say it's one yeah'd I'd love to see it grow. It's never it's never been mega popular. Probably... At its peak, it maybe had 500 competitors over a couple of days. you know We used to do Saturday and Sunday. it's only um It's all on one day now. So you can probably only fit about 350 bikes in transition at the at that location.
00:49:39
Tim Lloyd
But it's definitely, I'd say, it's one that you should have on your bucket list if you haven't done it. should come and do it because it is. is It's not ridiculously expensive. you know it's sort like It's what you'd expect to pay for an event like this. It's certainly not Ironman prices.
00:49:53
Tim Lloyd
And it's somewhere that you should come and race because it's absolutely gorgeous. Yeah.
00:49:59
Scott Hill
Great. I look forward to it. And I think that's July that one. um
00:50:03
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, it's the end of July, isn't it? Late July.
00:50:04
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:50:05
Tim Lloyd
All right.
00:50:05
Scott Hill
Yeah. So we'll see if I'm still recovered from, going to have to do a GB middle distance in in Spain. So the week before, so hopefully I'll still be all right on that weekend. I think it's the one after, it'd be good.
00:50:15
Tim Lloyd
ah you ah Am I allowed to ask what age category you're you're in now or not?
00:50:19
Scott Hill
I'm 40, 44. Yeah.
00:50:21
Tim Lloyd
Are you?
00:50:22
Scott Hill
yeah
00:50:22
Tim Lloyd
look You're looking very good on it, Scott. It's all that training that you're doing.
00:50:26
Scott Hill
Maybe that's what it is. ah ah Yeah, I'm still trying to try to compete and do well in my age group and different events, you know.
00:50:28
Tim Lloyd
Yeah.
00:50:33
Scott Hill
So, yeah, so i' still do your GB stuff, you know, and everything else in between.
00:50:33
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:50:37
Scott Hill
So it's still active.
00:50:37
Tim Lloyd
Brilliant.
00:50:39
Scott Hill
I'm fully immersed into the sport and still loving life with it. So it's um it been there quite a long journey now. But obviously, I get to share that passion now with other people as well and everything I've learned through training, racing and qualifications, I get to share that with them as well and and and obviously coach people along the way.
00:50:55
Scott Hill
which and And hopefully it still inspires people to come along and join up and take up the events and racing and be as I am about it really, I guess.
00:50:56
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:04
Tim Lloyd
yeah
00:51:06
Scott Hill
Or as we are.
00:51:07
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, I mean, you if you haven't if you haven't tried it, you know, once you've once you have tried it, you'll probably get bitten by the bug, won't you, with
Encouragement and Conclusion
00:51:13
Tim Lloyd
triathlon? You know, sprint's a great way in, isn't it?
00:51:14
Scott Hill
Yeah.
00:51:15
Tim Lloyd
A sprint or a soup even a super sprint, you know, and and, you know, try it for the first time. And once you have tried it, you will realize, you know, that you you actually, you can do this, despite the fact that you probably believe that you can't.
00:51:28
Tim Lloyd
You can do it. It's all doable. It's all achievable. you know, there's plenty of help out there. People like Scott, they can get you, you know, point you in the right direction, get you going. And, uh, and then, you know, who knows, you'll be racing the snowman triathlon in a year or two and absolutely loving, you know, the journey that you've had to get there.
00:51:37
Scott Hill
fantastic.
00:51:46
Tim Lloyd
Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:48
Scott Hill
Great. I guess then obviously for anyone that listened to this podcast, then they can head over to, well, we'll we'll put this on social media anyway, through UK Tri Chat. We'll also advertise Always Aim High events and the links for that as well.
00:52:00
Scott Hill
And if anyone's looking out there, go and have a look at the website. You know, there's a multitude of events there with Always Aim High, whether it's cycling, running, triathlon, or all various distances across Wales.
00:52:09
Tim Lloyd
Mm-hmm.
00:52:10
Scott Hill
And they'd be, I'm sure you'd be absolutely pleased to welcome many more athletes across finish line for different events. different variants reasons whether they're doing it just for a first time you know transition practice whatever it may be you're new to the sport um
00:52:22
Tim Lloyd
Yeah, and if you are coming, then you know you'll see me on the finish line. Come and say hello and tell me your story. If youre if you are racing it and always in my event and you're doing it for a specific reason if you're just there because you want to you know improve yourself, then come and have a chat with me. Tell me what you're yeah know what you doing and and and I will give you a shout out on the finish line. you know It's a really nice thing to do. It's a really personal thing to do.
00:52:46
Tim Lloyd
um but it it makes the event so much nicer for me it also for the people who are spectating and and for the people who are racing to hear those personal stories so yeah come and have a chat me on the finish line it's ah it's always a pleasure to talk to people
00:52:58
Scott Hill
Great. No, thanks for your time today, Tim. Thanks for talking about Always In High Events. And i look forward to seeing you this year as well in in some of the events that I'll come along to.
00:53:06
Tim Lloyd
fantastic cheers and good luck to you for your race season as well yeah all right nice one
00:53:07
Scott Hill
So I'm looking forward to that.
00:53:11
Scott Hill
No, thank you. we We can have a chat over a brew like that as well. i Thank you everyone for listening today. This is another episode of UK Tri Chat with myself, Scott Hill from TriWolf Coaching. If you are looking to be coached or interested or have any questions, please head over to at TriWolfCoach on Instagram and I'll be happy to answer any questions.