In 2016 I plan to become an Ironman, for many of my friends you will know what this is and that I have been working towards this for quite sometime. For others I want to explain what an Ironman is, why I’m doing it and who I’m raising money for.

What it is

As the official Ironman story goes ""In 1978, U.S. Naval Commander John Collins and his wife Judy issued a challenge. They proposed combining Oahu’s 2.4 mile swim race, 112 mile bike race, and 26.2 mile marathon. On February 18, 1978 fifteen competitors, including Collins, travelled to Waikiki to take on the first-ever IRONMAN challenge. Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles- BRAG FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. "

I’ve chosen to complete the Ironman UK event in Bolton…I’d say it could be quite a long and tricky day.

www.ironman.com

Why I’m doing it

I think it all started about 4 years ago when I was cajoled into signing up for the Rat race coast to coast event (run/bike/kayak across Scotland) with my friend John, he thought we should do the one day option and I thought the two day. I would have been quite happy about the two day option but once there was talk of doing it in a day going to two days was never going to feel like success. Honestly I thought I might not make all the cut off times but as I crossed the line my mind was suddenly open to other endurance events.

The barrier to an Ironman then was the swimming aspect, and in September 2014 I got in the pool for the first time since I was a kid, I couldn’t even complete a length front crawl that day and an Ironman felt a long way off. Gradually with stubborn persistence I went from one length to every other length and when I hit my first mile all front crawl in 45 minutes I started to feel better. A few months on and my times began to tumble as my strength increased…as I write this in January 2016 my mile time is now 32 minutes and I’ve completed the Ironman swim distance in the pool (once!).

The final proving ground for me was the Bamburgh Castle Half Ironman distance Tri in July 2015. I absolutely loved the day especially the 1.2 mile sea swim. I didn’t train perfectly for it and I didn’t complete it in record time but that was the day I was finally mentally ready to sign up for an Ironman. 

Signing up itself didn’t happen until the 5^th of September 2015 when after a meal out with friends (one of whom is a two time Ironman) I was so full of hipster food, wine and talk of Ironman that I found myself signing up for Ironman UK. 

I want to complete it because I know I won’t be fit enough to do it forever so the time feels right, those who know me well will also understand I pride myself on being a good role model to my daughter and I want to show her what is possible if you set your mind to it. 

Who I’m raising money for (and why)

This year I want to raise money to make a difference in the area of mental health. There are a lot of reasons for this:

1. A colleague of mine took her own life in 2014 and whilst no one will ever know why, I feel strongly that if I can raise money that might benefit someone else who is close to being in that position it would be worth every penny. She will be with me when I'm toiling on the final miles of my marathon. 

2. People close to me have suffered from mental health issues and I know what the impact of that can be to them and those around them, again if I can raise some money to help others in this situation is will be money well spent...they too will be with me giving me perspective when I'm hurting during training and on the 17th July.

3. Stigma, there is a stigma surrounding mental health and we can all play a role in shifting the perception of it. In our busy lives we don't always accept the impact it has on our mental state and accept that it is as much an illness as physical issues. I hope I can play my part and raise some awareness.

With that in mind I am supporting SAMH - Scottish Association for Mental Health for
my training, events and Ironman this year. They are Scotland’s leading mental health charity - there is no pan UK mental health charity. In Scotland 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem and each day 2 people die through suicide. SAMH works to combat stigma and campaign for better mental health. Have a look at the work they do here:

http://www.samh.org.uk/home.aspx

So hopefully you read this and feel that perhaps the triple whammy of events totalling 140.6 miles in a day make a donation worthy? Perhaps you read about the charity and think it would make a worthwhile donation? Maybe even the tremendous amount of support I’ll need from my wife in the next 6 months to get my training complete is worth a donation? (this part certainly is!)

Whatever your reason, I hope you can spare me a donation, my company DIAGEO will double donations made so please give what you can and it will spur me on in the coming months and on that long day in July.

Thank you

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.