Vegan athlete Lisa Gawthorne won the gold medal for Britain at the European Duathlon Championships. Duathlons are like triathlons but without the swimming leg, consisting of a run leg, a bike leg and a final run. Gawthorne learned the news of her victory after her last event in Caorle, Italy, comprised of a 5km run followed by a 23km bike lap and then a final 2.5km run. She had already taken a bronze medal in the world championships in June last year in Romania.
Apart from being an athlete, Gawthorne runs Bravura Foods, a vegan food brand company, is the author of the vegan fitness book Gone in 60 Minutes, and is the creator of the card deck resource The Vegan Deck.
She said to Vegan Food & Living: “I am so over the moon with this result, I really had to work hard for it. I put in a strong first run and worked hard in a pack on the bike and then had to give it my all on the final run to get into the winning gold medal position. I was under a little pressure for the final run as my helmet got stuck in transition so it meant I had to get out there super-fast and overtake some really talented athletes that passed me in transition. When I sprinted over the line to hear my name called out as the category winner was just amazing. Once I checked the results with my boyfriend and friends at the finish line and saw that I got the gold medal, I was very emotional as I’ve put in so much hard work and graft and it just felt so rewarding that it had all paid off to be crowned European Champion.”
