Name: Ain- Alar Juhanson
Birthday: 02.10.1976, Paide
Weight: 98 kg
Height: 195cm

Studied:

• Jukentali Kaubanduskool 1995-1996 (cook-confectioner)
• Otepää Suusakool 1989- 1994 (cross-country skiing)
• Paide 3. Keskkool 1982-1989

Family:

• wife: Evelin Juhanson
• father: Tambet Juhanson
• mother: Mare Juhanson
• brother: Indrek Juhanson
• brother: Andres Juhanson
• sister: Piret Tuiken

Hobbies:

• mountain bike, surfing, skiing, reading

Languages:

• Estonian, English, Russian, a bit of Spanish

I was born in the heart of Estonia – Paide. Already then I made a phew heads turn with my size. I weighed 5600 g and was 57 cm tall. A lot thanks to my family it was only natural that I would be involved in sports too. I was about 4 or 5 when I started to go cross-country skiing with my father. It was then when I realized that I was going to be the next Gunde Svan. The very next year I took part of the annual Paide – Türi run (14km between the two neighbor towns). In primary school (Paide 3. Keskkool) I benefited from a lot of different training courses, which really helped me become more versatile.

With my parents permission I entered Otepää Suusakool (a ski school) when I was 13. Not that they wanted to get rid of me but to make me a fine athlete. Unfortunately I fell ill a lot in Winter and I had to quit skiing. My best result as a cross-country skier remained the 31-st place in Aoste Youth Olympic Days.

I first heard of triathlon thanks to my older brother Indrek who won a local triathlon in Paide and got to the town’s hall of fame as a reward. Later at the ski school I came in contact with triathlon again because a lot of cross-country skiers like Andrus Veerpalu and Kalju Ojaste used triathlon as summer training.

The first triathlon I entered was in Paunküla 1991, where I won the Youth Estonian Champs. After that I got a call from Uno Loop who invited me to take part in the Nordic Championships. Since that triathlon has been a big part of my life. Perhaps the best memory of the time was the trip to Haiba triathlon: me and my dad woke up at about 4.30 am. rode our bikes for 14km to the Train station in Türi, took the train to Kohila, then pedaled for another 20km, rested a bit, won the race and came back the same way.

In 1993 I met probably the best triathletes in Estonia at the time: Jaan Pehk and Kristian Raiend, who also introduced me to their main benefactor and helper Urmas Randma. Thanks to them I became a member of the URRA sports club and I was introduced to far better training conditions. In 1994 I became the Estonian duathlon champion, I was only 17 at the time. In Autumn of the same year we headed to Spalt Duathlon Germany on the ferryboat Estonia. More than 850 people lost their lives to the Baltic Sea that night, including Ülle Karu, Jaan Pehk and Kristjan Raiend. Me and Anti Arak were lucky enough to escape the tragedy. After that there was a break from triathlon for me. On 1995 I entered Jukentali Kaubanduskool. 1996 was the year of another major setback, in September I tragically lost my mother Mare.

I found my way back to triathlon in 1996 when I entered the defense forces. Heino Märks, the head of physical education there introduced me to my trainer Jüri Käen. Since then I have trained systematically and it really improved me a lot. After my time in the defense forces I managed to remain in their ranks, this was much thanks to Üksik-Sidepataljon. The defense forces allowed me to fully dedicate to sport and from 1997 I have defended the honor of the Estonian Defense Forces in army world championships. Then I was focused on the olympic distance races and tried to make it in the European Cup series. My best result in that distance was the 36-st place in Carlsbad (CZE). Unfortunately my swim level didn’t allow me to be a bigger success in that format. That’s why me and Jüri Käen decided to focus on longer distances. On 2002 I did my first Ironman in Florida where I gained a surprisingly good 9-th place. Next year I competed in Lanzarote ironman for the first time and qualified for Hawaii. Arriving there only 10 days before the race straight from Estonia’s Autumn it was clear that I didn’t have enough time to acclimatize. Next year I managed to spend more time in the same climate and didn’t have the same problems. On 2005 I won my first Ironman in Lanzarote.

My goal is to one day gain a high position in Hawaii and to do it for my love to triathlon and to fulfill the unfulfilled dreams of my lost friends…