On April 29, 2023, Vegan athlete Lisa Gawthorne from Formby, UK. is now the new World Age Group Champion, this was just after becoming the European Age Group Champion in Italy six weeks ago which makes it a fast-moving double win!
The race in Santa Eulalia, Spain, kicked off with a 4.8km run, followed by 19km on the bike, and a 3km run to finish.
Lisa finished the race in 1 hr 5 minutes 17 seconds, just one minute and six seconds ahead of the silver medallist.
‘A Dream Over The Moon’ for Lisa Gawthorne
In a statement sent to VeganFTA, Lisa commented: “I am literally over the moon; I really didn’t expect this one. It was amazing to become European Champion, but this is a dream of dreams to go one step further taking a world champion title in my age group amongst the best of the best in the world.
There were 27 in my race, and I knew I needed to get out strong to try and maintain a good lead. I didn’t know until after the race, but I got into the leading position 2km into the first run and managed to maintain and grow that lead throughout the race.
I just kept the pace up on the first run and reserved a little well-needed energy on the bike – where I had to just keep my head down for the first 4.5 miles as I was out on my own.
Then I got absorbed by a pack that I worked one of the riders in that pack – we cycled an efficient 2-up formation for the rest of the bike taking our turns and it worked really well. I came out of transition tired off the bike but just dug in for another solid run. I really had no idea where I was as so many waves went off at similar times and it was only when I crossed the line, I heard them call my name as the winner and realised I took the gold medal.’’
20 Years Veganniversary!
Lisa is also celebrating her 20th year of being vegan this year and always uses vegan related logos on her kit.
She adds “As always, I carry the vegan-centric logos of the Peta UK “Go vegan” campaign, Veganuary and The Vegan Society as they are organisations very dear to me and pivotal in the industry. I am all about spreading the positive vibes associated with veganism and in particular its beneficial effects on sports and overall athletic performance which come as a nice extra for me as I have always been vegan for animal welfare reasons.
It’s been an absolute joy to see a lot of my GB team pals and other teammates from other countries that have decided to go vegan over the years and have either reached out for advice or mentioned that I inspired their choice – this always makes me beyond proud.”
Lisa Gawthorne as a renowned personality in the vegan industry
Lisa is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of multi award winning vegan distribution business Bravura Foods. She has previously been awarded the James Henry Cook award in 2019 for her inspiring vegan principles in business and sport just a year after being names by the LDC as one of the 50 most ambitious business leaders in the UK. In 2020, The Grocer also named Lisa in the top 10 of who is pulling the plant-based strings in the market. She is also the author of vegan health and fitness book Gone in 60 Minutes and vegan information resource The Vegan Deck. Lisa is a regular contributor to the vegan press and is a qualified vegan nutritionist. Lisa has won multiple running vests for county and country – with 4 England master’s appearances over the last 5 years across both road running and cross country events. Lisa also become European Masters 10K Champion in 2020. She runs for Vegan Runners and Liverpool Pembroke Sefton Harriers and trains with Mersey Tri. Coached by run coach Tony O Brien of TRS Coaching and bike coach Ian Roberts of Prime Tri Coaching. Run results here and multisport results here
