About Patrick

 

 

Age: 44

Specs: 5-foot-09, 160 pounds, heart rate at rest: 35

Home: Boston, MA

Married to Anne-Cecile, with 2 children, Estelle 11 and Damien 6

 

Autissier was born in 1962 and grew up in Paris, France. He became a teenage swimmer

who aspired to a career in medicine. Patrick Autissier could not have foreseen that 25 years later

he would be living in America, working at one of the most prestigious medical schools in the

world and performing leading edge research to conquer HIV.  Nor would he foresee becoming the first Frenchman to enter “the World’s Toughest Race,” (not even comprehending that the toughest bicycle race could be something other than Le Tour de France!), and then placing second in the relay division. Or starting and serving as president of a non-profit that enables athletes to use sporting events as platforms for supporting charities. But Autissier had always dreamed big, and more importantly, had the courage to pursue his dreams, so perhaps the broad dimensions of his success should not be surprising.

 

Autissier’s interest in medicine led to a degree in Biology Engineering from Grenoble Medical School in France, with a specialization in Flow Cytometry.  Not finding attractive opportunities in France, and long intrigued by America, Autissier and his wife, Anne-Cecile, decided to explore opportunities in the United States.  While finding a position in France had been frustrating, Autissier’s search in America met immediate success.  On a cool November Monday morning in France, Autissier posted his resume to several positions on the internet.  Incredibly, he received a call that same afternoon from Harvard Medical School.  The Chief of the Division of Viral Pathogenesis at Harvard, Dr. Norman Letvin, was flying to Switzerland that same evening for an AIDS Conference in Lausanne, and an interview was set for Wednesday in Switzerland.  On Thursday Autissier accepted an offer to come to America to join the outstanding team working on HIV vaccine research at Harvard.

 

Autissier describes arriving at Logan Airport in Boston on January 6^th 2001, with “a lot of apprehension, but also with the hope of realizing my ‘American dream.’”  His life was about to change in many ways.

 

Download the PDF document to read more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bad thing about my solo attempt on RAAM in 2005 is that I didn’t finish. However I learned a lot from this “failure”. Although I think I had the endurance to finish, thanks to my many years of swimming and triathlon, I didn’t have enough speed. Last year, as part of a 4 man team, I gained much more speed, and importantly, I saw the entire route. After RAAM 2006, I stopped training for about 1 month. Since August 2006, I ride every week between 100 and 400 miles. In addition, I decided this year to do some weight lifting 2 times a week. Finally I train for sleep deprivation too, as it’s an important component for a success on solo RAAM. However, RAAM is not a sleep deprivation contest, a solo rider still have to ride 3,000 miles. So I’ll make sure to do some big rides over the next months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

□ Swim: 1,500 meters Freestyle (PB: 17’02”)

 

□ Triathlon: 10X Nice triathlon (4K Swim, 120K Bike, 32K Run) (PB: 7h, 100/1,200)

                    9 IronMan: Lanzarote (Spain) (4X), Roth (Germany) (2X), Lake Placid, Florida and Hawaii (PB: 10h28’)

 

□ Marathon: Barcelona, Monaco, Paris, New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia (PB: 3h20’)

 

□ UltraCycling: Boston-Montreal-Boston (750 miles-64h) in 2004, Solo RAAM in 2005 (DNF), Team RAAM in 2006 (2nd)