Joe Skipper is a pro triathlete we’ve been following since the beginning of Beyond Going Long, having tipped him as a top talent and ‘one to watch’ for some time. He began to follow through on this promise last year with a 5th place at Challenge Barcelona.

In 2013, Joe stepped up his career and posted some very competitive results, including a win at the Vachery Triathlon, 3rd at Ironman UK and now 10th at a super competitive Ironman Florida. That most recent result followed some though provoking debate from Joe and the wider triathlon community surrounding the ability for talented young triathletes to make a living out of the sport and the role the WTC plays in helping professionals through prize money at some of their races.

I caught up with Joe for an interview.

Hi Joe, congratulations on a fab time at Ironman Florida - despite getting a penalty and puncture! Could you talk us through how you attacked the race and what the penalty was for?

My build up to the race had actually been really hit and miss as I would have some sessions where I was flying but then it always seemed like coming up to a race I would have no luck and I would get a cold or a tooth infection. It was really frustrating as I knew I was going well but was just never lining up to a race feeling 100%. So for Florida I saw the field was strong and I didn’t really want to think about who else was in the race so I treated it like a time trial in my head and thought I’m just going to aim to get from A to B as quickly as possible, to be honest part of that was because I knew it was a fast course and really wanted to have a good crack at a fast time.

In the swim normally I try and start off really fast and try to stay with the front pack as long as possible in the hope I will be there at the end but what normally happens is I end up putting myself in the red, getting dropped and not recover so I started off at my own pace and managed to stay in the chase pack for the swim. How that swim was non wetsuit I have no idea though as it was absolutely boiling and I felt sick.

Onto the bike and I just got into my rhythm and went hard, I wanted to average 42kmh if possible as I knew this would be around 4.15 for the bike and that would keep me in the race for position and for a good time. At around 50 kilometers in I punctured, luckily I had slime in the tire so it only went down to around 50PSI. At this point the group was going pretty fast (around 44kmh) so I knew if I stopped straight away I might not see them again so I waited a few kilometer and then when the speed slowed I quickly stopped and used a CO2 to get it back up to pressure again. I think it took around a minute and I had to chase for around 14 Ks to get back on. It was really hard and then once I got back on the lead group was in sight on some of the long straights so people were trying to break away and get across to them. There were lots of surges which made the bike very tough.

At 120 Kilometers in we hit a drag and the concertina effect mean everyone caught up with the person in front of them. It was really annoying as we were all keeping the 10 meter gap which was roughly around 1 second but the when you hit a hill that 1 second suddenly becomes only 5 meters and instantly I was given a 4 minute penalty. I had to stop at the next penalty tent with one other guy and in the last 45k’s we lost a further 2 minutes on the group.

Starting the run I was pretty destroyed as the bike was very tough and I honesty thought how the hell am I going to run a marathon but at the same time I didn’t want to give in and just thought it’s only a few hours of suffering. I started off at a hard pace and just hoped to try and catch as many people as possible. It was really hard and my legs are still in agony now.

What were your overall impressions of Florida and the race?

The race was brilliant, the location is stunning and the beaches are really nice. Some good restaurants and the locals go mad out on the course with bands paying out of their gardens as your running past, people playing dance music from big speakers, it was brilliant and it seems everyone likes the Ironman and gets behind it.

Compared to Challenge Barcelona, you came into Florida better prepared for an iron distance race - how different has your approach been this year and do you enjoy the longer races over racing 70.3?

My approach this year has been pretty much the same with the main emphasis being on speed as I believe you have to be fast, even Ironman is a race with the first person across the line being the winner!

I would say I do enjoy the Ironman racing more then the 70.3 but you an recover a lot faster from the 70.3 and I’m still cautious of doing to many Ironman triathlons and burning myself out.

I understand you’ve been out there training and racing alongside Amy Forshaw, Nico Ward and Nick Baldwin, how has that been?

I haven’t trained with Nick Baldwin since July but that was really fun when I trained with him. My Mum and Dad have a B&B so we did a training camp there with a few others as well.

As for the others I just me them in when I got to Florida so didn’t really do any training with them. We just chilled out before the race together but that was fun as both Nick and Amy are coo people.

You’ve been quite vocal about the prize money situation at Ironman Florida - could you let us know what the issue is?

I think the prize money in the Ironman’s pretty much full stop is terrible, but my grief with Florida is that the standard of the field and prize money available is ludicrous. The prize money goes down to 6th place with 6th getting $750 before tax which will be 30% in America and first place getting $5000 before tax which considering the strength in depth of the field and performance required to get result is terrible.

There were 3 people under 8 hours in the race so if I had have done 7 hours 56 I would have got $1750 so wouldn’t have even broken even, yet I would have broken the old course record, beaten the previous fastest time recorded in North America, broken the British record and been first Brit under 8-hours. I could go on but that’s just a few of the accolades I would have got and to me to achieve all that and make a loss it’s just not right.

A lot of people say that the Ironman brand doesn’t need the pros as they will still fill up there events but I disagree with this as I think the only reason the Ironman brand has such a strong reputation is because it’s generally been the pinnacle of the sport and attracted the top athletes. However if the top athletes were to stop racing I feel the events would not receive anywhere near as much exposure as they would just be effectively grass roots races, albeit very expensive grass roots races. What would then be the point of racing an Ironman event if there was no TV coverage, no coverage in magazines etc, it then just becomes a very expensive race which is no different then all the other races out there but still twice the price. There’s only so long you can get away with greed before people see the light.

If you are going to give the Ironman series a miss, what races will you be targeting instead and what is the ‘big goal’ away from the traditional Kona dream?

I don’t know exactly what races I will be targeting but I will be looking at a lot of races which aren’t part of a series and also Challenge races as I think these are just as big as the Ironman branded events, they get good exposure and are very well organized.

The traditional “Kona Dream” doesn’t really do anything for me as I see it if you’re a professional trying to make a living unless you can get top 5 it’s pointless. It cost a fortune to get there in flights and expenses and you don’t get much return for the effort put in. At the end of the day as far as I see it it’s the same as any other race and I’m not going to commit to racing up to 5 Ironman races to qualify for it I would just wait until I race as an age grouper as you only need to race the one Ironman to qualify.

I could go on for a lot more on this but that’s for another time and I really don’t want to bore your readers!

You have had a great season in my opinion, highlighted by Vachery, Ironman UK and Florida - what are your reflections on the year?

I’ve improved a lot over previous years, it’s been a massive step up in terms of results and I’m pleased by that. However at the same time I have never had a season where I have had so much bad luck, from punctures in races, being sent the wrong way, getting ill at the wrong time, next year could be a massive step up in performances just from having good luck let alone an increase in fitness!

But yeah I’m really looking forward to next year, this winter I’ll be based in Lowestoft and I’m really looking forward to it as we have a really good training group here at the moment. I’ve been training with the local swimming club, biking with a moped and running with City of Norwich running club pus loads of other people.

You are one of our fastest guys ever in this country and you are still relatively young for iron-distance racing. Are you motivated by times to go faster?

Without doubt I am, I want to break the British record and be the first Brit to go sub 8. I love racing for fast times!

Can I just say thanks to my sponsors that have helped me this year, Mail Big File, Huub, Starley Bikes, On Running, Bonk Clothing, and Clif Bar, and my biggest sponsors who have been with me from the start my Mum and Dad, thanks none of this would have been possible without all of you.