Welcome Chris Allen to the Gamut Team. This guy is a rare breed and is one of the most positive people to be around. He is a competitive IRONMAN athlete and is a huge inspiration of mine. Not only that he is a professional photographer and has had many of his photos published. Check out his pics and bio below.
"THIS IS ME. I was born and raised in Ventura County my whole life and spent most my younger years wandering the beaches in search of surf. It wasn’t till about 2010 until I started to run or do any kind of activity except for bodyboarding and shooting surf photography. After recently breaking up with my longtime girlfriend I decided to run because I thought it would be the easiest way to get fit, however it would soon turn into a passion that I could not live without today. I would find out that running is far more than just a physical exercise but it is also mental therapy for your mind. Running provided me with time to regroup, rethink, and reflect on my life, goals, and happiness. So over the next few years I followed my passion of running and being outdoors until it led me to signing for a full IRONMAN triathlon which consists of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, and 26.2 miles of running. After signing up, I truly didn’t know what to expect or how to train; previously my training was here and there, nothing consistent. About eight months before race day I decided to dedicate all my energy into my training, which turned into a life style. The IRONMAN was my lifestyle for the next eight months where I pushed both my body and mental capabilities to the highest they’d ever been. Finally after eight months of training, I finished IRONMAN Sweden, Kalmar in 86th out of 2700 participants at a total time of 9:48:30. After finishing, I knew finishing an IRONMAN was a great accomplishment, yet the journey I had made from never running and being overweight to finishing an IRONMAN was much greater. So today, I am still hooked on racing and being outdoors. I look forward every year to planning more races and challenging myself even further."