Local athlete Dr Richard Callow has completed the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
The 41-year-old from Union Mills finished in 161st place in his division in a time of 10hrs 15mins and 40secs.
He completed the 2.4 mile open water swim in 1hr, 17mins and 7secs, the 112 mile bike ride in 5hrs and 43secs, and the 26.2 mile run in 3hrs, 45mins and 17 secs.
However the ultimate test of mind and body wasn’t without incident, during the swim a shark was spotted in the bay!
Ironman World Champs
Thankfully, a pod of dolphins arrived and positioned themselves between the shark and the swimmers.
During the 2.4 mile swim, Richard lost his goggles mid swim and had to tread water for a while, while a crew fetched a new pair for the athlete.
Of his achievement, Richard said: “As a triathlete, getting to race on the famous Kona Ironman course was a dream come true.
“The course was tough, with jellyfish on the swim, winds on the bike and heat on the run, but it was a fantastic experience after years of hard work to get there.”
Richard qualified for the World Championship at an Ironman event held in Wales in 2022, when he was 58th out of 1,706 finishers, and 10th in his age group.
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