Super fit Bayston Hill athlete Dave Mawhinney has just returned from Hawaii after impressively competing in the prestigious World Ironman Championship.
Mawhinney clocked an impressive 11 hours 18 minutes – some 16 minutes outside his personal best – after once again excelling in one of sport’s most demanding events.
Mawhinney, who lined up alongside 1,800 triathletes from around the world at the iconic event, had to swim for 2.4 miles in the tropical sea in Kailua-Kona harbour after getting up bright and early for a 7am start.
Then he went straight into a 112 mile bike ride in high temperatures before ending with a 26.2 mile marathon race as he bettered the time he recorded in last year’s event by 13 minutes.
“The race went really well even though the bike ride was harder this time due to the strong cross winds on the course,” said Mawhinney. “I was pleased to finish in a faster time than last year.
“My wife Sarah and son Jamie came with me and they signed up to be volunteers for the race and were involved in catching people and helping them as they came across the finish line to ensure they were OK and didn’t collapse.”
Mawhinney picked up the triathlon bug in 2002 when he competed in an event in Ludlow and was quickly hooked. He progressed to his first ironman race in the French city of Nice four years ago.
He’s since competed regularly in the annual UK Ironman event, coming out on top in the 50 to 54 age group class in Bolton in August after clocking a personal best 11 hours two minutes which booked his place in Hawaii.
“As part of my ironman training, I use a 30 week training plan which involves up to 20 hours trainingaweek in the peak training weeks prior to an event,” added Mawhinney.
“I find my inspiration in finding how far I can push my body.
“One advantage of all the training is that you can virtually eat as much as you want in order to get enough calorie intake for your body to cope with all the training.
“In an actual ironman race you can burn up to 10,000 calories!”
Mawhinney, a member of Shrewsbury-based triathlon club SY TRI and Mid Shropshire Wheelers Cycling Club, has also encouraged wife Sarah to take part in ironman competitions and she recorded a respectable time of 14 hours 7 minutes for her opening race earlier this year.
By Stuart Dunn