1. Please tell us the name of your firm, title, and describe your role in one sentence. Director, Investor Services Sales at Citi.

2. What are your fundraising and athletic goals for The Decathlon, and what led you to choose them? My Fundraising goal is to better last year’s effort and exceed the 10k mark. As for my athletic goals, my first goal is to simply improve on last year’s performance (and try and break into the top 30). In terms of a specific event, I'd like to break 54 seconds in the 400m. Additionally, not being an American, and having never really thrown a football much before, it would be cool not to embarrass myself in this event (unlike my showing in 2014).

3. On average, a Decathlete receives donations from 34 supporters. What fundraising technique(s) have worked best for you that you would recommend to first-time participants? Don’t be shy, as it is a great cause that will resonate with a lot of people. It is likely that many of your potential donors live pretty busy lives and may not get around to it the first time you ask, so I think it pays to get the fundraising request out early, and then if necessary send individual chasers as the deadline closes.

4. Most Decathletes have participated in mud runs, 5k’s, and triathlons. What differentiates The Wall Street Decathlon experience from those other events? The Decathlon is obviously different to the above mentioned events, in that it entails 10 pretty different disciplines. I think the key to a good overall score is to have no significant weak event and then ideally excel in one or two events. In terms of training, it pays to look for the events where you think you can improve the most in the time you have available to train and focus on them.
Unlike a 5k, Triathlon or Mud run, in the Decathlon there are decent breaks between each of the events, and as such you will find you meet a lot of the other people participating and will end up cheering each on other throughout the day, especially within your assigned team.

5. What’s the one piece of advice about The Decathlon that you’d share with first-time participants? Don’t get too nervous or worried about performance, just go there to enjoy the day. Whilst you might think the individual event is all about you competing versus others, it really does feel like a big team of 120 or so people striving for one goal –- to raise a lot of money for a great cause and to support each other in the process.

You can donate to Neil's fundraising page here.