Meet Born Free star fundraiser Peter Greaves
MEET BORN FREE STAR FUNDRAISER PETER GREAVES
‘Petrol Ped’ is taking on the Ironman Marbella 70.3 on 7th May 2023, in La Costa del Sol in Spain, to raise funds for Born Free.
Read all about Pete’s dedication in our latest Q&A.
Pete that’s quite a challenge! Why do you want to complete this epic event?
I love to set a physical challenge in the calendar as a way of motivating myself to train and get fit. I have run a marathon, completed five stages of the Tour de France route, ridden up Mont Ventoux three times in a day and even ridden the Paris Roubaix challenge. In 2012 I completed the London Olympic distance Triathlon to make my 40th birthday and thought that one day I would love to go the next step and attempt an Ironman 70.3. Turning 50 last year was my motivation for that. I thought it would be a great way to mark the big 5-0 and would get me very fit at the same time !
Such a beautiful location, but what does this Ironman consist of?
There are Ironman events all over the world so I thought I would enter an event in a beautiful location at a time of year when the weather was hopefully going to be nice. Marbella ticked that box, although I hadn’t planned for there to be a heat wave. It looks like it will be around 28 degrees Celsius on race day. An Ironman 70.3 is a half distance Ironman and 70.3 is how many miles I will cover. First up a sea swim of 1.2 miles, then onto the bike for a hilly 56 miles and then finally a 13.1 mile run along the promenade.
Have you been training hard?
I had a pretty good level of base fitness. I love cycling and running and could comfortably run 10km or bike for 2-3 hours. The swimming has been the biggest challenge. I am good at breaststroke but you really need to swim front crawl as that is less taxing on the legs which you need for the bike and run. Since Christmas I have been training most days. The last three months I’ve been training for about 1.5 hours a day. Swimming each Tuesday with my local triathlon club. Getting tuition to improve my technique. I have been cycling mostly inside on a static bike trainer connected to the online training app Zwift. I am as strong now on a bike as I have ever been. Really important for race day.
I live in the South Downs so all my running has been trail running in the hills. This is great preparation for the flat course on race day.
Thanks so much for supporting Born Free! Why did you want to raise funds for our charity?
My wife and I love animals. I have been on horseback safaris a couple of times and they are still some of the most incredible things I have ever done. Tracey started working with Born Free in an advisory capacity about 18 months ago and we started to learn even more about the magnificent work the charity does. Although I have fully funded the entry and travel to Marbella I thought it would be a great opportunity to leverage my online following (I am an automotive YouTuber with over 177,000 subscribers) and raise some money for Born Free.
Is there a particular Born Free project close to your heart?
I loved hearing about the rescue of captive lions during and after the covid pandemic. To be honest, everything Born Free does is very special. At the fundraising dinner last year it was an honour to be sat on the same table as one of the head rangers from Shamwari and hear about the magnificent work done there.
A favourite wild animal?
As a cat fan I am going to have to say the jaguar, but any big cat is right up there. My wife and I also love elephants!
Can people get involved in supporting you?
I have a JustGiving page where people can donate I am also documenting my journey on my social media platforms. I’ll be doing Instagram stories and live feed from the event as well as a film for my YouTube channel. Just search for ‘Petrol Ped’ on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter and you will find me!