Paul Bailey's account of his British win

On the Saturday morning we started our journey up North to Edinburgh the journey took around 3 hours and although I was very anxious and moody, it didn't seem to take long at all. After unpacking my gear at the hotel we set off to the Official BNBF hotel to get polygraphed (This is mandatory at all BNBF competitions, as well as all winners being urine tested.) So, once at the Official hotel I was shown to a room were I was wired up to a computer and asked questions regarding use of banned substances. Although I know that I am as clean as a whistle, it was still a relief to know I had passed the polygraph. So, once back at the hotel I prepared for the next day. This included putting a layer of base tan on, drinking a few glasses of wine as a diuretic and a having a pint of LA Whey. The wine helped with the nerves and after practicing a few poses I settled down to watch the end of Pop Idol then straight to bed.

After about 4 hours sleep we all went down to a full Scottish breakfast, well I say we all, In truth I watched everyone else enjoying theirs whilst I ate a piece of steak. Back up to the hotel room to grab my gear then it was off to the University theatre for the pre judging. As soon as we arrived I tried to scope out the competition, although guessing what some one looks like through there clothes isn't really that useful. Back stage I got the first glance of what I was up against, there was 4 other junior competitors from the different qualifiers. After tanning and pumping up the moment was upon us, the backstage helper shouted "ok juniors , follow me". This was it, months of training, dieting, tantrums and mood swings all came down to this moment.

Pre judging went well, although the heat from the lights was quite intense and we were doing mandatory poses for some time. I felt that I kept everything nice and tight and presented myself well. I then had a 4 hour break until the evening show were we would do our posing routines to music . As soon as I came from backstage people came up to me and said how good I looked and that they thought that I had it in the bag. This made me feel even more anxious, and the four hours felt like 4 days.

At the evening show the crowd was awesome, the atmosphere was intense. The evening show started with a bang as the home favourite a Scottish competitor brought the house down . I was up next and after hearing that response I knew I had to make this my best routine ever. I did my routine to Def Leopard and although in the past I have tended to rush my routine, this time I kept it nice and controlled . My mates and family who were in the crowd were going crazy and although there was 50 or so more people supporting the Scottish competitor they were just as loud, if not louder. The judges then brought us all out and again we went through some compulsory poses, then a pose down. At this point me and the other competitors were feeling tired but the crowd kept us going.

The judges tallied up there scores, as all the competitors waited for the results . The MC counted down the results "In fourth place", At this point my heart was pumping like mad, "In third place", well I now knew that I was first or second. "In second place", the crowd went quiet , I held my head up thinking my name was coming up, It didn't and the crowd went crazy, I'd done it. I rose my arms in sheer disbelief, the feeling was indescribable. The horrible dieting, early morning C.V, the training with no energy, and mental strain of preparing for the competition was all worth it.

So the journey was complete, from winning my first competition 4 months earlier, the Bury Rochdale and Oldham competition to British junior Champion. Before this year my dream was to enter a Bodybuilding competition, to do so well has been unbelievable . I now intend to get back down to the gym and start training for my assault on the Mr classes.