In fact, Pete is now so good at this gruelling endurance sport that this week he travels to New Zealand to represent Great Britain in the 30-34 Age Group at the 2012 Barfoot & Thompson World Triathlon Grand Final in Auckland.

And that’s a testament to the hard work and commitment he has given to the sport that he took up only four short years ago.

The event in Auckland will bring the 2012 triathlon season to a close with the crowning of the world champions. And whilst all eyes will be on the Elite racers, over 2,500 of the world's best international Age Group amateur athletes will be competing to become world champions in their respective 5-year age groups, and over 40 countries will be represented.

Pete’s race takes place on Monday 22nd October (Labour Day in New Zealand) and will feature 101 international Age Group athletes in the start list, 19 of them British, all of who will embark on a one-lap 1,500m swim in Queens Wharf before completing a 40km bike course and final 10km run, comprising of two 5km laps. His start number is 3260.

Pete told the Shirebrook Town website:
“It’s something that I had to qualify for this year as one of the top twelve British athletes in my age group and I qualified in June. I fly out there this week and I’ll be competing against lots of Australians, New Zealanders and Americans, so it’s quite a good field - or it seems to be - so it’ll be a tough event.”
“You have to register your availability to compete beforehand. Last year I actually managed to qualify for Beijing, but because I hadn’t registered my interest - because I didn’t think I was at that level - I didn’t go out there. So this year the whole aim, the whole season, has been based around qualifying for Auckland and it’s the first time I’ve ever represented my country in going out there to do it. I’ll be very proud to wear the GB kit, and I just hope I can do it justice.”

Pete says he got into the sport after he’d finished playing football and cricket:
“I let myself go a bit, put a bit of weight on, so I started running just to lose weight. And it was a good mate of mine who said ‘….let’s do a triathlon’. I’d always swum as a kid and I was into my running, but I’d never biked. But we did one - a very short distance one - and I did okay. And then gradually I got a little bit better and my competitive edge came in and I wanted to be even better, and it’s just developed from there. I’ve got a coach this year and I work really hard at it, and spend a lot of time on it and it’s come to this.”
“I compete for Sheffield Tri Club, but I train quite independently because it’s a long way up there. I just go and do a bit of open water training with them, but I do race under their name. For me a lot of it’s done on my own and with a little group of people that I train with.”

Pete says he’s lucky to have a very understanding wife:
“I’ve got to say that straight away. Happily she’s coming out to Auckland with me as well, and it’ll be a good experience for her too. I train every morning before work, so I’m up at half-past-five to do an hour or an hour-and-a-half’s training and then I go and do a full day at work, and then four nights a week I’ll train again, so I get my eleven sessions in. And now - with football being Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - on Tuesday and Thursday I’ll train and then come straight over to Shirebrook, so they’re quite long days. But, because I enjoy doing it, and I’ve got an ambition that I want to do something, then I find the time.”

Pete says they begin their journey on Wednesday night:
“We fly out to Bangkok and then on to Melbourne, so it’s quite a long way out there. It’s probably the most nervous bit for me because I don’t like flying, but I’m going to have to get through that. My bike comes with me. It collapses into a hard case and the rest of my working gear just goes in our luggage. I’m going to fly my bike back afterwards because we’re staying on for a few days and having a little bit of a holiday.”

Pete and his wife will be back on Friday 2nd November, the day before Shirebrook’s league game at Eccleshill United, and he says:
“I don’t know what state I’ll be in from jet lag when I get back, but I shall be trying to get up to Eccleshill to see the lads and hopefully they’ll have kept the run going, and I’ll have a top of the table team to come back to.”

You can follow Pete’s progress via his personal Twitter account @pshutts (click HERE).

You can also follow the whole of the World Triathlon Grand Final event as it unfolds by visiting their official website auckland.triathlon.org (click HERE).

Shirebrook manager Mark Shaw said: “Everyone should know just how proud we at Shirebrook Town Football Club are of Pete as he travels out to New Zealand. It’s a massive race and he will be representing Great Britain. It’s a fantastic achievement for him to train part-time to take part in such a difficult event against the rest of the world.”

Photo below: Pete says: "I’ll be very proud to wear the GB kit, and I just hope I can do it justice."