大象传媒

A record 2,000 athletes started 2019 Ironman 70.3 Weymouth, but few entrants endured such a tumultuous weekend as one Dorset competitor.

Paul Holmes from Wyke Regis spent eight months training for the half ironman event in his home town - it included a shortened 950 metre swim in Weymouth Bay, a 56 mile bike ride covering rural Dorset, and culminated in a 13.1 mile run, with three and a half laps of Weymouth seafront.

In his spare time, Paul is a volunteer for the Wyke Regis coastguard rescue team (CRT), and late on Friday evening his pager sounded. A vessel had run hard aground in rough seas with a casualty and two dogs onboard. Coincidentally, the incident unfolded within a short distance of the former Royal Navy engineer's home. It ended in the early hours of Saturday morning with a dramatic airlift rescue.

Just twenty-four hours later Paul started his first ironman in memory of helicopter crew comrades that lost their lives in Basra, Iraq in May 2006. It was also his first ever triathlon. A decent foundation was set after completing the delayed and shortened swim course in a respectable 21 minutes - but 3 miles into the cycle leg, his bike failed mechanically. Paul was distraught and feared his challenge had ended in the most unfortunate circumstances - however, after seeing his despair, two strangers unselfishly offered strong moral support, convincing Paul his bike was fixable. Against the odds, the unscheduled stoppage was restricted to forty minutes, Paul got back on track, and he completed Ironman 70.3 Weymouth in under 7 hours.

大象传媒 Radio Solent reporter Laurence Herdman spoke with Paul Holmes at the Ironman finish line and also the morning after.

He said: "my faith in humanity has been restored by two amazing individuals".

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