Help to Race at the XTERRA World Champs Italy

Hi everyone,

I'm Finlay Goodman a 16 year-old triathlete from the South-East of England, here in need of your support to go to the Czech Republic to race in the 2024 XTERRA Youth European Championships this August, in order to try and qualify for the XTERRA Youth World Championships in Italy!

XTERRA is off-road (cross) triathlon consisting of an open water swim, followed by a mountain bike ride, before a final trail/off-road run.

This year is XTERRA's first year holding a youth specific world tour and European and World Championship, with each qualifying race holding potential to qualify for the Youth World Championships in Italy, this September, bringing the best off-road triathletes in the world together.

Earlier this year I competed in the XTERRA Matterley Basin Duathlon (trail run-mountain bike-trail run), which wasn't a qualifying race, however I won the Sprint race for my category and won overall, including against all the adult categories. This was my first cross-duathlon/triathlon race, since the UK has little off-road multisport racing currently, and even with the small amount of races a few years ago and pre-covid I had not been old enough to compete in most of the races there were.

I race triathlon primarily but compete and have had success in and have been enjoying a mix of all three disciplines since about 5, actively racing triathlon through the summer months with mountain bike racing too and over the winter running cross-country and riding cyclocross, and have also raced in a number of fell running races up the country.

I am a member of the South-East triathlon Academy on British Triathlon's talent pathway to elite level with an aspiration this year to progress onto the England Next Generation Squad.

I am currently in my second year of being able to compete in the British Triathlon Super Series which consists of road triathlons and aquathlons, racing against the best athletes from all British nations, channel islands and some from a few other countries. Last year I had a best result of 3rd in the Worcester Super Series race and achieved various finishes in or around the top 10. I finished 11th overall in the series as a younger year with some unfortunate luck towards the end, including crashing on the bike in the final race of the series, but still managed a strong result overall.

This year I have had a solid start to the series with a 9th place finish, 3rd and 6th, and looking to improve and progress ahead.

I prefer the off-road side of racing and this year am currently leading the Southern XC mountain bike series with one race to go and currently have two 2nd place finishes and a win. Unfortunately in the previous race I suffered a double puncture losing time and also dented my mtb wheelset, making it unrideable and with the final race of the series this weekend I am still stuck without any wheels a few days out.

In cross country running I have won the Sussex County Schools every time I've competed and Club Championships on multiple occasions. I've achieved a number of national top 10 finishes and this year finished 7th at English Schools XC in Pontefract and qualified to represent England for a second time in the SIAB International XC, this time in Ireland where I placed 8th.

In fell running I was 2nd at the English Schools Champs 2 years ago and was English Schools Champion this time round (2023).

Over this years I have progressed through all these sports including cyclocross racing too having achieved multiple podium positions over my years of racing. With the costs of competing and the immense range of training and racing requirements from bikes and wheels, bike parts, running shoes and wetsuits to race entry fees, memberships and travel it becomes very difficult.

I've competed in one national cyclocross round before and have never raced a national mountain bike round, being limited with the races I can do due to costs and was without a cyclocross bike up until the week of the national round last year, cleaning a cheap one up we bought, after previously racing on my dad's bike with limited working parts, which was nearly as old as me!

With little number of off-road triathlon racing in the UK it means having to travel out into Europe to have a chance of qualifying for the World Championships. With the racing I do and with no sport-backed funding into athletes like me to compete in these races, financially it becomes very difficult to compete, with all the various costs of racing and training like race entries, accommodation, training memberships and all the equipment required.

I've contacted multiple brands and companies, to try and help with support but have had small amount of success.

In order to race and have a chance of qualifying I have set this GoFundMe page up for anyone to help support my sporting journey and help me pursue my dreams and aspirations and prevent my sporting potential and opportunities being halted by financial issues.

Any donations and contributions would go towards travelling out to the XTERRA European Championships, accommodation, race entry fees, nutrition, any equipment required and elsewhere where it is needed to get there and race.

To anyone who donates, your contribution is immensely appreciated.

I have a website: https://finlaygoodmantriathlon.uk/

and Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/finl_goodman/

where you can see the latest activities I am getting up to as well as subscribe and follow for free to be kept updated with information.

My website has a lot more information about me and my achievements and results over time so feel free to follow the link and have a look.

Thank you very much for your time,

Finlay