Mark Buckingham has one of the hardest jobs in British sport.

No, he’s not the England cricket coach or the PR guru for Mario Balotelli, but the 29-year-old from Honley is the training partner of the best two triathletes in the world – Olympic stars Alistair and Jonny Brownlee!

Holmfirth Harrier Buckingham is part of the Elite British Triathlon Squad based in Leeds and he trains for 35 hours a week alongside the London 2012 heroes as they look longer-term towards the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Make no mistake, Buckingham is an outstanding performer in his own right – focused on defending the British title he won last year and on adding to the World Cup race victory he had in Spain.

And he thoroughly enjoys being part of the best training group possible on a daily basis.

“It’s a great training environment with all the guys and girls there and we have world-class facilities,” said Buckingham, who now lives in Leeds with girlfriend Lucy Hall, who represented Great Britain in triathlon at London 2012 and England at the Commonwealth Games.

“We are based at Leeds Beckett University and the University of Leeds where there are running tracks, swimming pools and the cycling is second to none.

“We can get into the Dales on pretty much every ride and that’s been a massive difference for me since moving up from Loughborough in January last year. The routes have a lot more hills and that just makes day to day a lot more motivating.”

So what about working alongside the Brownlees?

“It was hard at first because they are the best in the world and I’ve been doing triathlon for only four years – which in terms of the sport is nothing,” he answered.

“These guys have been doing it since they were five years old, so I’m playing catch-up a bit!

“Coming from a running background, I did compete against Alistair as a youngster in cross country races and the like, so I have always known the pair of them and we’ve been good mates.

“What I have found spending my career in elite level sport is that the guys right at the top are a little bit different to your average person.

“I don’t mean different to be an odd thing, but you can always identify characteristics in the best people.

“Jonny Brownlee, for instance, really likes routine. If anything gets in the way of his routine – like he gets stuck in traffic on the way to the swimming pool and he knows he is going to be two minutes late – it really gets to him.

“Little things like that show just how important training is and how much emphasis they put on it. People only see the superstar in the big event, they don’t see the day-to-day dedication which goes into it.

“While Jonny has to have routine, Al on the other hand is quite relaxed and I think that’s maybe a lot to do with their success – there is a balance between themselves.

“If Alistair is late in the morning, he’s got Jonny putting pressure on him to get out of bed and get to training and, at the same time, Al is telling Jonny to chill out.

“Being brothers is massive for them, because it’s such a hard sport to do on your own.”

Mark Buckingham and fellow triathletes Lorraine Smith, John Field, Jason Haigh, Angus Greenwood, Jeremy Hoyle and Darren Hanson after training at the John Smith's Stadium.

Buckingham now does more than twice the training he did when he was in athletics, with cycling alone now taking up 18 hours a week from a total of 35.

“Being able to do the cycling with a squad and the Brownlees does help a lot,” said Buckingham, who has set up a wetsuit business called Yonda with Holmfirth club colleague Angus Greenwood.

“Al has made that point before, saying how important it is to have a squad around him. That’s what drives him to get out of bed knowing there is a group there ready for a four-hour ride in the snow, the wet and the wind!”

Because Buckingham has entered the sport so late, he is still progressing. While it’s not the norm, it’s a good thing and he is very realistic about his targets going forward.

“People really ramp their training up in their early 20s, not their late 20s, for an endurance sport lasting two hours, but we’ve got research which shows your endurance improves as you get older and I’m hoping that will help me a lot,” he explained.

“My goals for the season are to defend my British title and, after winning a World Cup race in Spain a couple of years ago, I’d like to win another.

“That’s more my level of racing. Whereas the World Series is really, really hard because you’ve got the Brownlee brothers and a massive contingent of very top competitors, in the World Cup races you can take the Brownlees and those top guys out of the equation and that makes it easier for me to hit the podium.”

The way Great Britain like to choose their team for the Olympics means Buckingham isn’t really expecting a call about Rio.

“The main thing is training and it’s important for me to help Al and Jonny to be in the right place for Rio,” he explained.

“My chances of going are pretty slim because, like in 2012, the Brownlees are likely to have a domestique, who is someone who can basically swim and bike very, very well – almost as good as those two – and makes sure they get through to the business end as competitively as possible.

“Should Alistair have a puncture on the bike, for instance, the domestique is there to ride him back into the race, so for the Olympics the British team will definitely look towards doing that rather than giving the third place to someone who has little chance of getting a medal.”