Eleven years ago John McAvoy was sat in a prison cell facing a life behind bars. The judge had given him two life sentences for armed robbery and his future looked bleak. Today, he's stood in front of us in a car park above Alpe d'Huez in the French Alps. Dressed in running kit, a lightweight jacket and a baseball cap, John approaches us with a broad smile and extends his hand for a warm handshake. We're meeting at Lac Besson, an alpine lake that's blessed with uninterrupted mountain views. It's a simply stunning morning.
It was his idea to come to Lac Besson, which has been his stomping ground ever since he moved out to Alpe d'Huez last year. “I come up here once or twice a week to watch the sunset,” he tells us. We're spending the morning together for this feature, first taking some photos and later having a chat about triathlon, life and how serving 10 years in prison has shaped his outlook…
Despite competing in the Alpe d'Huez Duathlon the previous afternoon, John's more than happy to run and In fact, it's the bottle of red he drank the night before that's had more of an impact. “It wasn't the best idea,” he admits. His landlady would agree, given it was her that he woke up in the early hours after he found himself locked out of his flat.
