Wight Tri member Ant Mildenhall flew across the Atlantic to take on the Ironman Madison Wisconsin on 11th September.
Ant – coached by Simon Pilcher and Darren Cole at Vectis Academy – showed huge determination to stay in the endurance event as the weather conditions on the day were extremely challenging.
This was Ant’s 1st venture into the Ironman distance. Ant swam at a steady pace and exited in 1 hour 21mins for the 3.8km swim.
The 112km bike course with 4km elevation turned out to be a longer distance: 113.5km with 6km of elevation, accompanied by 3.8 inches of rain on the day.
Ant commented: “Descending with marshmallows for brakes was interesting, to say the least.”
Winds and torrential rain made the course even more difficult and treacherous, and Ant witnessed over 30 people with punctures.
Shaking with cold, he eventually got back in a solid time of 7 hours 44mins and – after a long T2 – Ant was out on the marathon run.
Running is not his favourite event, but he was able to get a slow steady pace going. However, at mile 18 he ran out of steam, and it was then just a matter of getting home. This was made worse as the 26.1-mile run also turned out to be over 27 miles.
Ant completed his marathon in 6 hours 11 mins, which is a creditable time without having done a 3.8km swim and 113km cycle. Ant was hoping to finish within 14.5hrs but got over the finish line in 16:02:16 – a fantastic achievement for such a challenging event.
Ant – who is now an Ironman – said:
“I’m buzzing, but knowing I didn’t get the time I wanted means I will do another. Amazing supporters, organisation and support from back home made it so much more enjoyable. It was a perfect 1st Ironman. Out of the 1800 people signed up only 1020 finished!”
‘Training the body is essential. I could suffer and suffer, but smile all day I did.”
