New breed of ultra-policeman starts in Haverhill
Tuesday, 6th December 2011.
Haverhill criminals are unlikely to be able to run away from at least one Haverhill policeman as he has run over 60 marathons and is a British record holder in Ultraman Canada.
PC Simon Bourne has joined the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Haverhill, replacing PC Rupert Beynon, who has moved onto the response side in the town.
PC Bourne, 48, is a nationally-acclaimed sportsman in the most extreme endurance events on the planet.
He came 23rd in the world ultraman championships in Hawaii last year and has a record time of 29hr 36min for the event, which takes place over three days and involves a 10km open water swim, 260-mile bike ride and a double marathon.
Now he has his sights set on the toughest event in the world - Decaman, in which competitors taken on ten times the basic triathlon.
The event takes place in Monterey,Mexico, next year, and involves a 24-mile swim, 1,120-mile bike ride and 262-mile run, performed continuously.
PC Bourne has his sights set on the world record, which was set by a British athlete in 1997, of eight days and 14 hours.
It is a mental test as well as a physical one because the swim is done in a pool (960 lengths), and the cycling and running around a 2km concrete track, in the centre of which are toilets and tents for sleeping as and when competitors wish.
"If you sleep more than two hours at a time you know you are not going to win the race," PC Bourne said.
He spent 11 years in the RAF Regiment (Paras) and 12 years as an RAF PT instructor before leaving the forces and becoming a policeman eight years ago.
He did his probation at Haverhill and has also served here again for six months since, but said he was delighted to be returning for a third stint.
"I love Haverhill because I learned to police here," he said, "and I love being out in the community and engaging with people."
The Clements estate will be his 'patch' and he says he willspend as much time as possible out and around it on foot.
He keeps up his training for his sporting challenges by scheduling around his work, and even cycling to and from work from his home in Bury, or even running home after a late shift.
And he also has to find time for a girlfriend and a Jack Russell.
Much of his sport has been aimed at raising money for charity, particularly the Luke Southgate Foundation, in memory of a serviceman killed at 20, whose family he knows very well.
He is also moving into coaching and has several projects in hand, including an athlete who he hopes will one day take on the ultraman challenge.
PC Simon Bourne has joined the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Haverhill, replacing PC Rupert Beynon, who has moved onto the response side in the town.
PC Bourne, 48, is a nationally-acclaimed sportsman in the most extreme endurance events on the planet.
He came 23rd in the world ultraman championships in Hawaii last year and has a record time of 29hr 36min for the event, which takes place over three days and involves a 10km open water swim, 260-mile bike ride and a double marathon.
Now he has his sights set on the toughest event in the world - Decaman, in which competitors taken on ten times the basic triathlon.
The event takes place in Monterey,Mexico, next year, and involves a 24-mile swim, 1,120-mile bike ride and 262-mile run, performed continuously.
PC Bourne has his sights set on the world record, which was set by a British athlete in 1997, of eight days and 14 hours.
It is a mental test as well as a physical one because the swim is done in a pool (960 lengths), and the cycling and running around a 2km concrete track, in the centre of which are toilets and tents for sleeping as and when competitors wish.
"If you sleep more than two hours at a time you know you are not going to win the race," PC Bourne said.
He spent 11 years in the RAF Regiment (Paras) and 12 years as an RAF PT instructor before leaving the forces and becoming a policeman eight years ago.
He did his probation at Haverhill and has also served here again for six months since, but said he was delighted to be returning for a third stint.
"I love Haverhill because I learned to police here," he said, "and I love being out in the community and engaging with people."
The Clements estate will be his 'patch' and he says he willspend as much time as possible out and around it on foot.
He keeps up his training for his sporting challenges by scheduling around his work, and even cycling to and from work from his home in Bury, or even running home after a late shift.
And he also has to find time for a girlfriend and a Jack Russell.
Much of his sport has been aimed at raising money for charity, particularly the Luke Southgate Foundation, in memory of a serviceman killed at 20, whose family he knows very well.
He is also moving into coaching and has several projects in hand, including an athlete who he hopes will one day take on the ultraman challenge.
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