My name is Joanne Allan, I currently live in Alaska but was born and raised in Northern Ireland. I took part in my first triathlon in 1993. It was a sprint distance triathlon in my local town and I really enjoyed it! At the time I was competing in Orienteering, representing Ireland in the Junior World Orienteering Championships and in Ski-Orienteering World Cup races. Swimming and running were part of my training schedule, (cycling was not). Triathlons were a fun way to cross train and get race fit, so I continued taking part in local races in the late 90’s and became a founding member of the University of Edinburgh triathlon club.

I spent a few years away from competitive sports as I focused on my career (I was a geotechnical engineer) and family. I rediscovered triathlons when my family moved to Alaska and have been training and competing in triathlons since then. I’ve completed a variety of distances from Sprint to full Ironman distance taking part in races in both America and Ireland.

My racing highlights include racing in the inaugural Ironman Ireland Cork in 2019 in horrendous weather conditions and winning the Moose Nugget Olympic distance that same year. My favorite races are the Lavaman in Hawaii and the Gold Nugget in Alaska, both races have a brilliant atmosphere and are very friendly.

I recently became a USAT associate level certified coach and my goal is to help others achieve their triathlon goals and become the best they can be.