Clas "The Baron" Björling I started to work out by going to the gym 4-5 times a week when I was 15 years old. Before that I had been playing soccer on a low level.. After a few years of lifting weights I started to do some running, cycling, swimming and cross country skiing to train for "The Swedish classic", which includes a 30 K cross country running race, a 90 K cross country ski race, a 3 K open water swimming and a 300 K bike race. These events are spread over the year; I did the classic -97. The following year I did some more long distance events and also did a 15 month military service here in Sweden. It was in the military where I met my first coach. We had some local races and he saw that I had some potential to be a good runner so he brought me to some running races and they went pretty well. But I couldn't let the bike and swim training go away so I kept doing that together with the run training. I tried some triathlon and duathlon races and in 1999 I finished 2: nd at the Swedish national championship in duathlon and I was hooked to the sport. I tried to focus on running for a few more years but I liked the triathlon training better and I slowly started to learn how to swim freestyle so I decided to stay with triathlon and duathlon. I also saw that the longer the race as the higher up in the results I finished. 2001 I finished 3:rd at the national championship over the long distance ( 4 K swim, 120 K bike, 30 K run) and got to race for the Swedish National team at the ITU World long course in Denmark the same year for the first time. This year ITU decided to race the long distance Worlds over the Ironman distance (the first and only time they did) so I got to race my first Ironman distance event too. It went pretty well. After a very slow swim I slowly made my move through the field and with a sub 5 hour bike and sub 3 hour marathon I finished in a time of 9.05 and 22:nd place overall and we took a bronze medal in the team competition. The following year I went to NZ for a 2 month training camp which ended with IM NZ. I won my age group there and finished 12: Th overall and qualified for Ironman Hawaii. In Hawaii later that year I had a solid race and won my age group and decided to start to race as a professional after that. So I have been racing as a professional from 2003 and that year I went back to IM NZ and finished 4: Th overall. From 2002 to 2004 I also raced some duathlon races in Europe. Did some races in the Powerman serie and the ITU:s World Champs where I finished 14:th overall. I finished 5: Th and 7: Th in duathlons Ironman Hawaii, the tough Zofingen duathlon in Switzerland where I raced 2002 and 2003. I have won the national championship in duathlon 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006. My breakthrough came 2004 when I finished 2: nd at IM NZ and 3: rd at IM Brazil. I set a new run course record in both races in a time of 2.42 in NZ and 2.44 in Brazil. In IM NZ 2005 I had my first real setback in racing. I was in really good shape but I got my nutrition wrong and I ended up with really bad stomach cramps which forced me to walked the 2:nd half of the marathon. To drop out has never been an option for me in triathlon, I have always raced from behind and that has given me the mentality to never drop out, anything can happen in the front of the race and as long as I can keep going I might catch people. Especially because the run discipline is my strongest discipline and I normally have one of the fastest run splits in races. Of course I wasn't going to catch anyone this day in NZ, but if I had come this far I thought I might was well finish. It wasn't a pleasant experience but it forced me to learn more about my body and how important the right nutrition is during a long race as an Ironman. And as long as we learn something it wasn't a total failure. Already the same year I got revenge from my bad finish in NZ when I finished the Ironman distance race in Roth, Germany Quelle Challenge) in a Swedish record fast time of 8.21. The old record was 8.26, held by Jonas Colting and was from 2002. I finished up my 2005 season with a solid 4: Th place finish in IM Wisconsin. Coming into the 2006 season I was training harder then ever. This ended up in a broken down immune system and shingles during the spring so I had cancel my plans to race IM Arizona in the beginning of April. But the same thing happened now as it did the year before. I got a nice revenge when I once again had a good race in Roth,Germany, I broke my own Swedish record over the Ironman distance when I finished in a solid time of 8.15. Before my race in Roth I also won my 4: Th gold at the Swedish national championship in duathlon. After my 3 straight win in the national championship in dutahlon 2001-2003 I wasn't able to take part in the championship 2004-2005 because I raced some Ironman race, so it was a nice come back to get the gold 2006. I was able to finish up 2006 with a 2: nd place at Ironman UK in august. Short information Occupation: Professional triathlete Adress: Tegvägen 1, 780 40 Mockfjärd, Sweden Phone: +4670 - 3558037 Lives in : Mockfjärd, Dalecarlia Born: June 13, 1978 Length: 177 cm Weight: 73 kg Clubs: IFK Mora (Friidrott) Dalregementets triathlon Falu CK (Cykel) Competition forms: Triathlon, Duathlon, running Wetsuite: Blue Seventy Bicycle: Kuota Runningshoes: Asics Ahtletic back ground: Lumberjack