Andrew gets set for 112 mile challege

Challenge ahead!: Andrew prepares for the bike course through the volcanic islands of Lanzarote

A talented athlete who has been training for 20 years is taking on a gruelling 112 mile bike course through the volcanic islands of Lanzarote.

Ambitious Andrew Pilling, from Wardle, is setting set for the Lanzarote Ironman triathlon challenge at the end of the month, will also include several thousand feet of climbing.

The ‘triathlon’ provides the opportunity to race at a range of distances from Sprints right through to Ironman which challenges those taking part to complete a 3.8 km swim followed by a 180 km cycle ride and a 42 km run.

Andrew, from Wardle, is one of the elite band of local sportsmen and women to be sponsored as part of Link4Life’s Talented Athlete scheme.

Andrew has been competing in triathlon racing for over 20 years and has been consistently placed highly at a Local and National level throughout that time.

From the start he has raced for Rochdale Triathlon Club and supported many others to take part and improve over the years.

Successful candidates for the Talented Athlete scheme receive £1,000 a year in cash with free access to Link4Life fitness centres.

Receiving news of his sponsorship, Andrew said, “The support from Link4Life is a real honour and it is fantastic to be chosen at my age and after so many years of enjoying my sport”.

“I had put the Ironman off for many years and finally succumbed to it in 2007 when I first raced the Lanzarote event.

It was a tough day out and steep learning curve but served to give me the bug to improve at the distance.

With a finish under my belt albeit in a disappointing time, I had a go at a UK based event in the Forest of Dean later that year and finished a good 4th place overall. Last year I secured a good PB in an event in Germany and again learned a lot from the experience.

“I competed a couple of weeks ago in a sprint triathlon in Wales and was pleased with a 7th place finish from more than 400 competitors. The sprint, being around a tenth of the Ironman distance, was painful and totally alien to the long distances of Ironman training.

The Ironman event starts with a sea swim involving 2 loops, running back up the beach at half way to enjoy some crowd support, followed by a transition to bike kit.

More about the Talented Athlete scheme is available on the Link4Life website: www.link4life.org