Mark Campbell is CEO of Jasper, and after a handful of 70.3s he wanted to step up to a full IRONMAN while running his business. He finished IRONMAN New Zealand in Taupō on 7 March 2026 inside his 12-hour target, about 17 weeks after the first swim of his build.
At a glance
- Goal race: IRONMAN New Zealand, Taupō, 7 March 2026. Target: under 12 hours.
- Starting point: a handful of 70.3s. Late July to early November 2025 was all running.
- Build: about 17 weeks, averaging 10.4 hours a week before race week. Biggest week 22.6 hours.
- Result: first full IRONMAN, finished inside 12 hours.
Where he started
Mark started back with me at the end of July 2025. My start note was about consistency: get a green week on the board, nothing crazy.
His training from then to early November was all running: 25 runs, the longest the Auckland Half Marathon on 2 November.
His first swim of the build came 8 days later, on 10 November, and his first logged ride a week after that.
What we changed
Weekdays stayed short: a median of 55 minutes a session, and 84% of them 90 minutes or less.
Swims went on Monday and Wednesday (24 of his 36 swims before race week).
The weekend carried the long work. From January there were 5 big Saturday rides, 3 hours 50 minutes up to just under 5 hours, 2 of them with a run written straight off the bike. Every one was followed by a Sunday long run of 20 to 24 km.
The plan moved with his calendar. In mid-December I put up a bike block and asked him to tell me what didn’t fit. Over the holidays the plan followed his calendar, and the biggest week of the build landed in early January: 22.6 hours.
Two races went in on the way: a quarter distance in Rotorua on 13 December, then the half at the Mount Festival on 17 January. The half was a fitness check, with no expectations on my end. He ran 4:52 per km off the bike against the 4:55 I’d planned. His bike heart rate was low, so my note afterwards asked about free speed in his setup.
The last big weeks were 14.7, 15.9 and 16.8 hours, from late January to mid-February. Then it came down: 8.4 hours, then 4.2 hours in race week before the start.
Race week was written down. A carb load (an extra 100 g of carbohydrate two days out, 200 g the day before), a short swim, ride and jog the day before, and an if-then plan for the things that go wrong on race day.
Race day
The plan for Taupō was written in heart rate. 140 to 145 bpm on the bike with at least 80 g of carbohydrate an hour, then about 155 bpm on the run at around 5:20 per km.
His swim laps were steady, every 500 m on his watch between 1:58 and 2:04 per 100 m.
He rode under the plan: 179.6 km on his watch at an average of 134 bpm.
The marathon went out a little quicker than the plan. The second half was the hard part, and he kept it going all the way to the line. First full IRONMAN, inside 12 hours.
In Mark’s words
Achieving that required a higher level of structure, accountability, and guidance around what was already a busy life schedule alongside running my business.
Want your first IRONMAN built around a busy week? See how my coaching works and IRONMAN coaching in New Zealand.
