Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My name's Matt and, in spite of my having called various far-flung corners of the planet home over the past 10 years (currently Dubai) - my real home will always be Mold, North Wales, where my ma and pa still live.

On September 11, 2011, I'll be competing in the very first Ironman Wales. So, what is Ironman, I hear you ask?

In a nutshell, it's a triathlon gone mad, it's arguably the world's toughest one-day endurance event (more people complete marathons each year than have ever completed an Ironman), and, most significantly, it blows away just about any other race or challenge in terms of the dedication, training and preperation required to survive. 

Ironman consists of:

A 3.8km open water sea swim (or, if you prefer, 150 lengths of your local swimming pool but facing currents and without the option of resting at either end);

A 180km bike (or London to Birmingham);

A full 26.2 mile marathon.

This is done back-to-back and the clock keeps ticking as you transition between one discipline and the next, plus there's a 17 hour time limit. Come in on 17.01 and you've failed.

So, I'd be very, very happy if you'd sponsor me - and the money will go to The North Wales Chrysalis Trust which provides counselling and support to families who have a child diagnosed with a life-threatening, life-limiting or terminal illness, as well as bereavement counselling to families who lose a baby, child or young adult.

So please dig deep and donate now. And feel free to come along to beautiful, lovely Tenby on September 11 to cheer me on or laugh at me going through a whole world of pain...your call.

A famous triathlete recently described her first Ironman as a mix between "pregnancy, childbirth, a death march and a very very dark place"...so surely that's worth a few quid?

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