ABOUT US

Meet the Team

Background

ITT was established in 2011 to develop a platform offering extensive insights into the scientific aspects of triathlon training. The initiative was spearheaded by Mark Pearce, who had previously overseen the Olympic Triathlon Sports Science Programme for British Triathlon, covering the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. Following this role, Mark assumed the position of Head Coach at the Performance Centre in Loughborough, further solidifying his expertise in the field, departing in 2014 to take up Full Time Coaching with ITT.

As Head Coach for British Triathlon, he coached Lucy Hall to the London Olympics in 2012, Matt Sharp to the U23 World Title in 2013, and several other athletes to World Cup podiums and WTS top 10s.

In 2014, we embarked on an exciting journey, transitioning into a commercial coaching service. This marked a significant milestone as Mark, our founder, shifted his focus from the Olympic realm to guiding both Age-Group and Pro athletes in non-drafting events. This evolution reflects our commitment to continuous growth and improvement.

Since 2015, we have coached athletes at the Ironman World Championships every year, including Pro athlete Kim Morrison in her debut appearance and Hannah Munday in 2023, where she placed as the top British female amateur.

In 2017, a remarkable journey began when Mark started coaching Sam Proctor when he was an age-group athlete. Their collaboration was a testament to the power of dedication and hard work, leading Sam to his pro debut in 2019 with a second-fastest British debut Pro Ironman performance in Texas. During this time, he was also working full-time, and having to manage his work and training gave him a fantastic insight into what it is to be a high-level AG athlete and a pro.

In 2022, Sam started working with Mark as an assistant. coach with ITT, running swim camps and coaching a small number of athletes to build his craft. Unlike many triathlon coaching setups, Mark and Sam work together on the athletes, and each coach's expertise is leveraged when most appropriate.

In late 2023, Sam started working with India Lee and coached her to 2nd Pro in Ironman Florida, securing her place in Nice for the 2024 Ironman WC.

This success story clearly demonstrates the trust and respect they have built, reassuring our clients of our ability to deliver exceptional results.

Working collaboratively, they combine their extensive experience and vast knowledge to offer unparalleled expertise in every facet of triathlon coaching and performance enhancement.

“We believe in providing specific, informed, and objective coaching in partnership with athletes to enhance performance. Our coaching approach is intelligent and holistic, incorporating scientific knowledge, experience and common sense”.

Head Coach | Director
Mark has a BSc in Sports Science and MSc in Applied Exercise Physiology and is a BTF Level 3 qualified coach. After a stint as a physiologist for GB Sailing, he moved into the world of triathlon in 2002 where he was the Physiologist for the British Olympic Triathlon Team until 2010, supporting and attending both the Athens and Beijing Olympics.
In 2010 Mark moved from the science and management world to coaching, taking over the post of Head Coach at Loughborough High-Performance Triathlon Centre. This was one of two centres around the UK that catered for athletes with Olympic ambitions.
In 2012 he coached Lucy Hall for the 2012 Olympics. During his time as a coach for the High-Performance Elite Programme, he guided Matt Sharp to a world U23 championship and Adam Bowden to numerous top 10 WTS finishes.
At the end of 2014 he left to pursue his own coaching business, Intelligent Triathlon Training. He now works with non-drafting Pro and AG group athletes, bringing a blend of higher-performance coaching, applied sports science and experience to benefit all athletes.
Every year since 2015 he has coached athletes to a place at the Ironman World Championships in Kona (and now Nice), and to Ironman 70.3 World Championships.
In order to maintain the quality of coaching, he maintains a relatively small cohort of athletes.
Outside of coaching, Mark continues to ride his bike with a focus on endurance gravel events, having completed the UK’s premier event, the Dirty Reiver, several times with a best time around 8 hours. Next up Unbound Gravel!
When not riding or coaching his time is devoted to his wife and two daughters.
Coach | Pro Triathlete
Sam entered the triathlon world relatively late at the grand old age of 21, debuting at Fritton Lake Olympic distance in June 2011. Before this, he had competed at an elite level in high-performance sailing.
Having spent so much of his time on the water certainly didn’t help him very much when it came to swimming in it!! However, like most people when they do their first triathlon - he was hooked!! After embarking on some training and some more Olympic distance races, he set his sights on qualifying for the GB ages group championships in Hyde Park in 2013. Racing on the same course as the greats at the London Olympics the year before was an incredibly inspiring experience and set him up for a new challenge - middle-distance racing.
After a season of middle distance and 70.3 racing, he qualified for the 2015 70.3 World Championships in Austria. In 2016 he started working with Intelligent Triathlon and Mark, who is still his coach to this day.
In April 2019 he made his Ironman debut at the North American Championships in Texas, finishing 8th with the second-fastest debut of all time by a British athlete with a time of 8 hours, 14 minutes and 16 seconds.
In 2023 having not raced properly for nearly three years he raced Ironman Hamburg finishing in a speedy 7h55m
His coaching approach looks to harness the metrics available with a personal relationship with his athletes. This allows him to discover what makes an athlete tick and, therefore, tailor sessions to best test their strengths and develop their weaknesses.
"Mark and I have enjoyed chewing over so many different ideas in how to adapt, approach and execute sessions so I am very excited to be working alongside him at Intelligent Triathlon Training".
At the end of 2023, Sam and his wife celebrated the birth of their first child, and now, as every experienced parent knows, life has definitely changed.