Wednesday 14 July 2010
Ironman completes Exmoor Challenge
Marc clocking up the miles for ShelterBox
Marc Lovett has raised £1000 for ShelterBox and four nominated rotary charities by completing the Ironman 70.3 race on Sunday, June 20 in the wilds of Exmoor.
Marc who is originally from the Forest of Dean, but now living in west Sussex, devoted his free time to training during the period leading up to the race. Since signing up in January for the Ironman event a normal day has consisted of a one mile swim and a cardio vascular workout.
The race distance of 70.3 miles, which gave the race its name, was broken down into a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and finished with a 13.1 mile run. Out of a 1000 finishers, Marc managed to finish in 210th place and 8th overall in his category, finishing in just less than six hours!
'Unfortunately during the race my bike chain came off twice, I believe I could well of come in the top 100 if this didn't happen,' said Marc.
As part of his training Marc also took part in the Forest of Dean Half Marathon and the 3/4 length Olympic Triathlon on Dorney Lake, the place chosen as a 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venue for the Rowing and Kayak Regattas.
Inspiring visit
'Five years ago three of my friends were killed in a road accident, I wanted to do something for them to celebrate their life, and I decided to start raising money for charitable causes.
'When I visited ShelterBox HQ earlier this year it really inspired me, I was very interested to hear about the work ShelterBox did in Burma in response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008, as I lived in Yangon (former capital) when I was younger,' said Marc.
James Webb Fundraising officer said: 'We're delighted that Marc has raised this money for ShelterBox, we recognise that he has trained extremely hard for the big day and to come in the top 20 per cent of finishers is excellent.'
The below video shows Marc training on Exmoor:
