Hawaii is the focus for super tri guy

Hawkins earned his place in the World Championships earlier this month after impressive results in both the Czech Republic and Germany XTERRA World Tour series races, where he was up against some of Europe’s best triathletes.

Hawkins, who finished third and second, respectively, in his age category in the Czech Republic and Germany races, is now focusing his training on the big event which takes place at the end of October and involves more than 500 competitors from around the world.

XTERRA is the world’s premier off-road triathlon and combines a one-mile rough ocean swim with a gruelling 20-mile mountain bike section on the slopes of the mighty Haleakala volcano.

The bike course involves more than 3,000 feet of climbing over rock-strewn paths, gnarly golf- ball sized gravel, hard-packed lava and deep silt.

Then it is off the bike and into a six-mile off-road trail run where athletes encounter energy-sapping soft sand and many more hills before a finish on Hawaii’s stunning ocean front.

Hawkins, who works as an engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, has been competing in XTERRA races for the last four years, qualifying for the World Championships twice before, where he finished first and second in his category.

“Maui is a true championship course,” said Hawkins.

“It combines all the aspects a good course should, with long, tough climbs coupled with fast, technical descents all set around amazing, natural scenery.

“Being a qualify-only event, XTERRA attracts world-class athletes and I am very much looking forward to returning to Hawaii to contest this year’s race.”