The Sunday Telegraph - Sport

Million-dollar record-breaker The unknown British athlete poised to cash in on an amazing sport

Meet the British unknown who could eclipse Farah and Ennis-Hill if he wins a bizarre race in Iceland

- Ben Bloom ATHLETICS CORRESPOND­ENT

Which British athlete has received the biggest pay cheque for winning a race? By midday next Sunday, the answer could be someone most will almost certainly never have heard of – not that Jon Albon is concerned by a lack of recognitio­n.

Despite his multiple world titles and No 1 status in two different sports, Albon’s name will not be mentioned at any end-of-year award ceremonies.

Living a quiet mountain life on the outskirts of Bergen, Norway, Albon has little in common with Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill or any of Britain’s household name athletes, but he is staring at the kind of $1 million (£780,000) carrot none of his more recognisab­le peers have ever encountere­d.

All he must do is run 100 miles, climb 7,000 metres and traverse more than 400 obstacles – all in freezing conditions and in less than 24 hours – to dwarf any amount of prize money ever won by a British athlete. It may not even be possible. But if anyone can do it, Albon can.

For someone on the cusp of financial security for life, Albon is laughably relaxed about the implicatio­ns of what he is about to attempt – so much so that he confirmed he would travel to Iceland for the Spartan Ultra World Championsh­ip and take on the $1million challenge only 10 days before the race. It is typical of someone who describes himself as “an accidental athlete”.

Albon, 29, was never meant to become a skyrunning world champion – it just so happened that mountainru­nning multiple marathon distances at altitudes of 2,000m came naturally to him.

And he never set out to win the past five obstacle-course racing world titles – he just found he was good at running long distances while stopping frequently to climb walls, flip tyres and navigate dozens of other arduous challenges along the way.

So having won the Spartan World Championsh­ip and Spartan Trifecta World Championsh­ip to go two-thirds of the way to the unpreceden­ted $1million bonus he could win in Iceland next week, Albon is sticking to the carefree attitude that has got him this far.

“I don’t need $1 million,” he says, bluntly. “It would obviously be very nice if I did win it, but I can’t be too bummed if it doesn’t happen.

“I think it’s best to go, try and have fun, have a smile on my face and see what happens.”

A keen, if not hugely successful, sportsman in his youth, Essex-born

Albon tried his first obstacle-course race aged 20 – an experience he describes as “f----- up and really cold”, but one that had him hooked.

Despite no background in athletics, he rapidly excelled and, by the time he quit his job as a London Undergroun­d building surveyor to move with his Norwegian wife Henriette to Bergen in 2014, he had become accustomed to winning. Victory in the Spartan World Championsh­ip and Obstacle Course Racing World Championsh­ip that year brought $25,000 (£19,600) in prize money and meant he never had to find a job in his adopted country. He has run for a living ever since. “Everything in my career has just happened on its own,” he says. “I’ve just gone with the flow. I never wanted to be anywhere specific. I think outside the box and just go with it.

“If you’ve got good morals, take life as it comes and give it your all, then good things will happen.”

That laid-back outlook is evident in everything he does. Albon has never had a coach and does not stick to a specific training plan, preferring to do whatever he feels like, whenever he feels like it.

“The main thing is I can’t force myself to do boring stuff,” he says. “I’ve been meaning to go to the gym for three weeks now but I haven’t been able to make myself – it’s just so boring.

“I like to go running, I like to ski in the winter and I like to go bouldering, which is good for gripping. Those things give me a good base and I like to cycle, like to swim a bit – I’ll do a bit of anything.

“It makes me healthy. You look at someone like Mo Farah, and does he actually look healthy? If the whole UK population tried to copy Mo Farah’s lifestyle, they would have so many problems.

“With obstacle-course racing, it’s a healthy fitness that humans should have, where they are good at balance, speed and strength.”

That unregiment­ed attitude also extends to his diet: “I just eat food. I don’t take any pills, vitamin tablets, supplement­s or anything, except for gels when I race and iron tablets when at altitude.

“There are so many athletes that need their beetroot shot before a race or this protein shake at that time – what would happen if there was a zombie apocalypse and this person couldn’t run away if they didn’t have their beetroot shot?

“Who knows if you’re meant to have a bit of alcohol or not? Who knows if you’re meant to have a protein shake or not?

“People just make it up and most of the people making it up are trying to sell stuff.”

The unconventi­onal approach is certainly working. He has lost just two of the 18 races he has completed this year, at distances ranging from 3km to almost 100km and across both discipline­s of skyrunning and obstacle-course racing.

Whether that means he will win the $1million next week is uncertain, though.

Victory in the 24-hour race is not enough, as the bonus is only on offer if Albon also completes 100 miles in that time.

It is a brutal task. Last year’s winner managed only 71 miles but, as long as the weather is kind, he feels there is a “massive chance”.

As for the money itself, he has no grand plans should he win it. The cash would mean he did not have to chase prize money competing in so many races round the world. But aside from that, not a lot would change.

“We’ve got a simple lifestyle, so we don’t need lots of money,” he says. “We don’t buy useless stuff – we don’t even have a TV.

“It means that if I do fall off a ridge or drop down dead, then my wife will have enough money for the rest of her life. That’s nice.”

‘Look at someone like Mo Farah, and does he actually look healthy?’

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 ??  ?? High hopes: Jon Albon trains at high altitude near his home in Bergen, Norway, as he plots his course for Iceland and the Spartan Ultra World Championsh­ips. He is no stranger to victory in these gruelling contests (right)
High hopes: Jon Albon trains at high altitude near his home in Bergen, Norway, as he plots his course for Iceland and the Spartan Ultra World Championsh­ips. He is no stranger to victory in these gruelling contests (right)
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