Ironman

When he played on a beach with his older brother in the south of France in the late 1990s, little did I know that Philip would become a serial-achiever. In addition to some of his achievements that I mentioned in my previous blog, he was about to become an Ironman.

Philip and John in about 1999

In case you are not aware, an Ironman triathlon is a long-distance race that consists of three consecutive stages: a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bike ride, and a 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run, for a total distance of 140.6 miles (226.3).

The original Ironman World Championship was held in Hawaii in 1977 and has been held annually ever since. It is the culmination of a series of qualifying races around the world that take place throughout the year.

Together with another brother, Bob, Philip completed his first full marathon in Barcelona in 2017. It was with Bob that he previously cycled from England to Venice

Bob and Philip after finishing the Barcelona marathon

For his Ironman triathlon, Philip chose that of Tempe, Arizona, about 350 miles west of San Diego, where he lives with his partner, Nicole.

Waiting to start the 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim
Nicole’s finger pointing to Philip in his green cap
One 40-mile lap completed, 80 miles to go
Their little dog, Milo, looking out for Philip
Approaching the finish line
With his medal and not looking even slightly tired!

Philip finished in 14h48, well within the cut-off time, and professed the next day that he was ‘definitely sore, but not as bad as he expected‘.

Oh, to be young again!

So, I have updated my previous blog with my son’s achievement, and I added two that I had overlooked – both Bob (2012) and Philip (2019) completed a skydive. You can read the updated version by clicking here.

I suspect that I will have to update that blog many times before I go on my last walkabout!