In her first ever Ironman (second ever triathlon!) Emily came second overall, first in her Age Group and qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii this October. This was at one of the hardest Ironman courses on the circuit, with over 9,000ft of elevation on the 112mile bike ride and a hilly run course to finish.

An Ironman is a 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike ride and a 26.2mile run all back to back without stopping. While Emily was competing with the top men on the swim and the run, her bike split was the weaker of the three disciplines. This might be because she was racing on a £500, twelve year old bike bought off Gumtree last October when she signed up for her Ironman Journey!

We are raising money to try and buy Emily a bike that will do her justice at the Ironman World Championships. With a lot of athlete riding bikes well above £5,000, we want to try and even the playing field and give her the best chance at the race of a lifetime, as the costs of just going to race in Hawaii means that this is beyond Emily'd funds. The Ironman World Championships is a brutal race with searing heat, stifling humidity and crosswinds on the bike course of up to 65mph and a light, aerodynamic bike makes all the difference.

Emily has faced incredible challenges, losing 25kg in under a year, recovering from a big shoulder injury after she was taken off her bike in a sportive and training up to 20hours a week around a demanding full time job in order to make her Ironman dream a reality. Qualification for the World Championships was not even on her radar. Bolton news article .

Thank you for your support and we hope you will be cheering her on in October!