An ironman is an inexcusably pointless endeavour. It seems improbable that I'll ever encounter a survival situation requiring me to swim 3.8 kilometre, cycle the equivalent of London to Bristol and then run a marathon. I certainly hope I'll never have to run that far to catch a bus. However, as silly as the competition itself is, there is a clear purpose behind it:

It's all about Emma.

Emma, Hatch’s daughter, suffered sudden and unexpected heart failure when she was 15. For over a hundred days the brilliant team at Great Ormond Street hospital fought to save Emma, while James and his family lived in the hospital. Despite every effort, including a full heart transplant, Emma passed away. I guarantee that no Ironman could feel as long and painful as the time Hatch and his family spent in Great Ormond Street.

Alongside team IronHatch, I will be swimming, cycling and running this ironman to support GOSH with their brilliant work. Challenge Roth is our chosen race, in Bavaria in Germany on the 1st July 2018 (http://www.challenge-roth.com/home.html). I am incredibly grateful for anything you can contribute to support GOSH, and every penny that you donate will go straight to them. Their projects include modernisation and redevelopments to the wards, building additional and essential facilities and funding research to improve our knowledge and ability to cure childhood illnesses.

In our team, eight of us have never done a full ironman before, and I have never properly completed any of the individual components. However, we have a relentless training programme lined up, even though as it goes on I seem to be developing an increasingly odd shape, with larger leg muscles and skinny arms, like a featherless penguin. Before attempting Roth, this training will include the Dublin half-ironman, the Berlin marathon, the Bath half and the Lisbon half-ironman, as well as a plethora of other cycling, swimming and running races.

Follow our journey on Instagram @Team_Hatch and Facebook Team Hatch

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