Lifeguard successfully finishes first attempt at Ironman event

Ryan Hepworth, who is part of the RNLI's East Riding lifeguard team which covers beaches in Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea, completed the 140-mile course in just 11 hours and 40 minutes last Sunday.

It was the 23-year-old's first attempt at the UK Ironman Triathlon.

He said: "Completing the course was my only goal. I didn't want to get ahead of myself and set myself a time in which to finish but I am really pleased with the result."

The event, organised by the World Triathlon Corporation and held in Bolton, consisted of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. The total distance of 140.6 miles had to be completed in 17 hours or less.

The challenge started with the swim at 6am on Sunday where Mr Hepworth, who is also a part-time fitness instructor at Hornsea Leisure Centre, suffered his only mishap of the event – losing his ankle-timer.

After being warned that competitors eventually pay for rushing the first event, Mr Hepworth opted for a steady swim, completing it in an hour.

Next was the 112-mile bike ride, which Mr Hepworth felt would be his weakest stage. "Prior to training for the triathlon I had never done much cycling but I held up and so did my bike, which was all I could hope for," he said.

In fact, he completed the cycle in about seven hours, buoyed by the support of the crowd. By early afternoon, he was ready to tackle the final stage – the marathon run, which he completed in a respectable three hours and 20 minutes.

"The run was really hard work," he said. "It was always going to be after being on the bike for that long but the actual course took you back on yourself and we were given markers for each 'length' we completed.

"That meant you were constantly noting competitors who were ahead and that was disheartening."

Throughout his training and the competition, Mr Hepworth raised more than 500 for the RNLI.