**************************************************UPDATE************************************************************

August 1st finally arrived, finding us already in Regensburg.  We'd spent a few days out there acclimatizing, learning the course and eating as much pasta as humanly possible: we'd need every one of those carbs by the time we'd finished.  The morning of the race dawned hot and sunny, conditions that whilst pleasant for spectators would make things very tough for the competitors.  The rising sun and a light morning mist leant the lake at Guggenberger See an ephemeral quality, soon dispelled in a frenzy of white water as over 1800 athletes took to the water to complete the 2.4 mile swim.

From the swim it was onto the bikes for the 112 mile ride.  The ride itself took place on a two lap course that included a daunting 10 mile climb into the Saxony Hills with gradients of up to 15% (it definitely felt steeper on the second lap).  The heat was also climbing (pardon the pun), it would peak at over 90 degrees, which further sapped he stamina from our legs.  On the plus side the local residents had turned out in force to support the athletes.  Each village we passed through had their own version of a fete with music, cowbells, cheering and even the occasional vuvuzela to keep our spirits up.

The two laps done there remained a 12km flat sprint into the centre of Regensburg, to take us to Transition 2 and the start of the marathon.  The run route consisted of 4 laps that took us through a combination of the old medieval town and the surrounding parkland.  The temperatures were now at their peak and every athlete in the field started to suffer the effects.  Dozens of competitors would, at this point, drop out and fail to complete the event.  Again the crowds were out in force with tens of thousands of supporters lining the route, cheering us on.

It was during the marathon that we all discovered something about our ability to endure.  We had pushed ourselves beyond what we would have thought physically possible but somehow had to find the reserves to keep going.  As well as the people lining the streets the thought of all the support we had enjoyed in the build up to the race, as well as the kind sponsorship, helped us dig that little bit deeper and keep going.  Finally, after many hours of effort and pain, we reached the finishing straight in the world heritage site Stadhamhof.  All three of us managed to find that little bit extra effort to produce a grandstand sprint finish (see photo attached) before collapsing across the line...140.6 miles completed and earning the title: Ironman!

The times were of secondary importance to crossing that line and earning the Ironman title.  For those interested in such things, however, the finishing times were: Roy - an awesome 11hr 24min 47sec, Me - 12hr 58min 17sec and Dan - a creditable 15hr 07min 38sec.

We are really pleased with the level of support we have received leading up to the race and hope that this can continue.  The generosity of people, and their donations, has been overwhelming and we continue to collect for this amazing charity.  If you have yet to donate then please do so, as much or as little as you can afford will be gratefully received.

 

**************************************************UPDATE************************************************************

On 20th June 2010 we raced in the Ironman 70.3 UK event - a "half" ironman.  We did this as a warm up to the main event in Regensburg (only 4 weeks to go!!!) and to give us a feel of how these events are run.  All 3 of us finished of course, the times: Roy 5hr:45min; Paul 6hr:43min, Dan 6hr:45min.  This is thought to be the toughest 70.3 event on the world circuit due to the punishing climbs in the bike route and the hilly cross country run.  It is incredibly satisfying to have conquered this event and it's given all three of us a healthy dose of confidence in the run up to Germany...

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Hi all,

Thanks very much for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.  We are Paul, Roy and Dan, 3 colleagues from Cheltenham & Tetbury who have decided, in a moment of optimism (some may say madness), to take on the 2010 Regensburg IronMan in Germany on 1st August 2010.

For those of you that don't know, the IronMan series of events is, basicly, an extra long triathlon.  It consists of:  a 2.36 mile open-water swim, followed by a 112 mile cycle ride and finishing up with a 26.3 mile run (a full marathon!!).  Check out http://ironman.com/events/ironman/ironman-regensburg for full details of the event itself.  So, we are getting ourselves ready for this most testing of physical challenges and, with assistance from you, we can raise some serious money for a great cause!

First, something about us.  In terms of athletic prowess we come from very different backgrounds.  Roy, the Daddy of the trio, is something of a mad-keen cyclist, who also has a history of marathons and triathlons behind him (great things are expected of him by the other two!).  Dan, the baby, is a football playing, rugby playing, gym addict with a competitive streak a mile wide (great things are also expected of him!!!)!  Paul tried his hand at a couple of sprint triathlons last year and that, with the exception of a bit of golf, is about the limit of his athletic achievments to date!!!!  He is, however, very determined and convinced that under the guiding hand of Uncle Roy (and with Dan shouting at him a lot) the IronMan is there to be defeated....  So that's the three of us, training has commenced, logistics are sorted and all that remains is for us to get some sponsorship to make the whole thing even more worth while.

This brings us to CLICSargent (http://www.clicsargent.org.uk/Home), our chosen charity.  The charity is set up to care for children and young people with cancer, and their families, in hospital and in the community.  It is a sad fact that every day 10 families are told their child has cancer. As the UK's leading children's cancer charity, CLICSargent is the only organisation to offer them all round care and support. That’s because they are there every step of the way: during treatment, in hospital and at home, and after treatment, be it successful or otherwise.  This is a realy worthy charity, performing fantastic work in making the lives of children struck down with this most terrible of illnesses that much more bearable.   We have set ourselves a target of £2,000.00 from this event and, with your help, we can achieve that...and maybe more!!!

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Please dig deep and donate now (any amount, whatever it is, will be gratefully received), leave us a message of support (all are welcome)...and keep your fingers crossed for us on the 1st August.

Thankyou...

Roy, Paul & Dan.