Brief History:

Mark Higgins

Mark has been competing in Triathlon since he was 18 years old. The road to the Ironman World Championships started at a young age. Mark was born and raised in Clonlara, Co Clare, Ireland where as a junior athlete he competed for Ireland in the Junior World Triathlon Championships. While he competed mostly in Sprint and Olympic Distance races throughout Ireland he took the leap to Ironman Distance races in 2005 when he completed Ironman Austria. The Ironman is the longest distance triathlon, composed of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run, all in one day.

After completing the Ironman Mark moved to America. While he took a break from Triathlons to get married and start a family, Mark continued to have the dream to compete in the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii. After having a few other Ironman races behind him Mark began to realize that competing in Kona was close to a reality. In 2013 Mark trained hard in order to race Ironman Wisconsin, unfortunately during the race he crashed on the bike. Bruised and sore he completed the entire race and managed to finish 5th in his age group, 1 spot away from qualifying for Hawaii. Then came Ironman Cozumel in 2013, 4 weeks after his 2nd son was born. Mark had a great race, however after inclement weather cancelled half of the swim course (Mark’s strongest discipline), Mark again finished in 5th, 1 spot away from Hawaii. In the beginning of the 2015 season, Mark was able to race for Ireland and compete in the ITU World Standard Distance Olympic Triathlon Championships in Chicago, Illinois. With a solid 5th place finish in his age group Mark knew that this could be his year. With his 3rd child on the way Mark knew this would be his last chance for a long time to qualify for Hawaii. So after more than a year of training 20+ hours per week and taking care of his family , on October 8th 2015 Mark was ready for Ironman Louisville. While sick, he was able to finish 4th in his age group, 9th overall out of 2800 athletes and qualify for Hawaii. He will be racing in the prestigious Ironman World Triathlon Championships on October 8th, 2016 in Kona, Hawaii. Due to his love and commitment for triathlon Mark and some fellow Irishmen have recently founded the South Chicago Triathlon Club, "Tri & Endure" in order to continue with his training and through his expertise and experience, help others as they enter into the world of endurance sports.

Now that Mark has qualified he needs your help to cover the expenses for the upcoming season. Your contribution will assist with paying for race entry fees leading up to the Ironman World Championships, the cost of travel, shipping the bike, accommodation, nutrition, and racing gear and supplies. With a family of 5 and a 1 child less than 10 weeks old, it is difficult to pay for all of the expenses associated with Marks goal in racing against the best in the World in Hawaii. If you wish to donate please just click on the link below. Thank you in advance