GB age-grouper Alex Heron is hoping to become Ironman Wales’ first finisher in the 75-79 age-group. Here he tells us why…
WHY I TRI
I was always a runner, but in my early 60s started picking up calf injuries, so I bought an old bike and the farmer next door gave me permission to swim in his lake. Some blokes turned up and asked what I was doing swimming in ‘their’ lake. It was a local Derby tri club, MVH, and they got me started.
My first race was Derby triathlon. I cycled with mudguards, lights, a bell and swimming goggles around my neck! I won the 60-64 age-group, started looking at qualifying times for GBR teams, and realised it wasn’t utterly undoable.
I qualified for the ITU World
Championship in London in 2013 in my first year in triathlon and came in off the bike course a lap too early and was sent back out, eventually finishing 28th overall. It snowballed from there. Since then I’ve won several British titles at middle distance and sprint and medals at European events.
My kids live in south Wales, so we moved to Mumbles four years ago. I’m addicted to parkrun and sometimes run it with the grandkids. I also joined Celtic Tri, who have been a great, supportive club.
I was never going to do an Ironman at my age, but I got talked into it by training partners, Lisa and her partner, Jon. Why Ironman Wales? Because it’s there! The local support is fantastic, there’ll be so many people who know me and that might outweigh the difficulty. But I’m under no illusion that finishing within 17hrs is a given.
I’m raising money for Action On
Post-Partum Psychosis (APP), a charity where my daughter, Dr. Jessica Heron is the CEO. It raises funds for postpartum psychosis, a serious mental illness that can affect mothers shortly after childbirth, of
