The Ironman from Mackay
The Ironman from Mackay
Not every office can claim they have a genuine Ironman working in their midst |
| 7 Mar 2009 |
| At AE Smith Mackay, Andrew Felton is setting his sights on yet another Ironman challenge after recently completing a 15 hour grind in the picturesque setting of Lake Taupo in New Zealand’s North Island. An obsession with triathlons, duathlons and hours of fitness training was inspired after an AE Smith visit to Curtis Island to train with “Chopper”. Then, late last year a seed was planted to compete in his first Ironman. “I love to challenge myself and wanted to see what an Ironman would be like – it’s the ultimate triathlon,” comments Andrew. With an extremely supportive wife and family, Andrew’s extensive training paid off, completing the monster 3.8km swim, 180.2km bike ride and 42.2km marathon at the Ironman New Zealand event in March. Congratulations Andrew! Next is an event in August at the Yeppoon Half Ironman and then to Western Australia for the Bussleton Ironman in December. |
| “My obsession with fitness and triathlons first started back in 2006 when I was asked to go to Curtis Island and train with ‘Chopper’… I went over there thinking I had a certain amount of fitness and how wrong was I! I struggled for 4 days and on the Saturday night I made a vow to get fit and back into triathlons,” said Andrew. “After many triathlons, duathlons, thousands of laps in the pool and some 8000km riding and hundreds of kms pounding the pavement, a close friend of mine who has done eight Ironmans put the idea into my head that I should give an Ironman a go… I set myself a goal that If I could run a half marathon in under two hours I would sign up and on the 15 Dec 2008 I did it. That night I applied to enter the NZ Ironman, was accepted and the Monday morning my first training run for an Ironman started…” |
| To read the rest of Andrew's amazing story click here. |
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| Andrew Felton finally reaches his goal - to finish! - in 14 hrs 53 mins 59 secs. |
