CHANGE OF PLAN - MY BROTHER CHRIS WHO WAS DOING THE EVENT WITH ME HAS RECENTLY BEEN TAKEN INTO HOSPITAL AND NOW HAS TO HAVE A SERIES OF OPERATIONS. GIVEN THAT WE HAD PLANNED TO DO THE EVENT TOGETHER AND HAVE TRAINED TOGETHER FOR 6 MONTHS, I HAVE DECIDED TO DEFER MY ENTRY SO THAT WE CAN BOTH DO THE EVENT NEXT YEAR ONCE HE IS FULLY RECOVERED.

A REALLY BIG THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE SPONSORED ME ALREADY. GIVEN I HAVE DONE 100S OF HOURS OF TRAINING I HOPE YOU DO NOT FEEL YOUR SPONSORSHIP WAS FOR NOTHING AND I PROMISE NOT TO PESTER YOU FOR SPONSORSHIP NEXT YEAR!

On the 13th July I am doing an Ironman Triathlon in Roth, Germany. That's a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a 26.2 mile run .... all in one go!

It's going to take me at least 13 hours and is going to involve a bit of chafing. Actually it will hurt a lot but at least I get to dress up in rubber and lycra (yes that is me in the picture) which makes a change from wearing a wig and gown.

During the 6 months that I have been training people have often asked me whether I am doing the event for charity. The truthful answer is "No, I'm doing it because I'm having a mid life crisis" but I have since come to realise that the correct answer is "Yes, I'm doing it for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution".

Everyone who sponsors me will receive a race report covering all the gory details together with race pictures.

Many thanks.

Andrew