Local Fitness experts Aaron Bell and Thomas Simmons, of Comber Leisure Centre, successfully competed in the tough, international ‘Ironman’ competition, held in Austria earlier this month.
Thomas and Aaron were the first competitors from Newtownards to enter and had finishing times within an exceptional 1 hour 44 minutes, and 3 hours 41 minutes (respectively), behind the overall winner; a professional athlete who in turn, was first out of 2,500 competitors, from 44 countries!
The competition consisted of 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle & full marathon (26.2 miles), one after the other. Aaron and Thomas trained for the competition for 9 months using Momentum Fitness, as well as cycling and running.
Describing his experiences of the event, Thomas said “I was delighted with my overall time of 9 hours and 52 minutes, as not too many people from Ireland, or the UK, have broken the 10 hour barrier. I was also pleased that my cycling preparation, especially the ‘spinning’ classes which I run in Comber Leisure centre, stood me in good stead, along with my other training, for this part of the competition. It was great to be part of such a huge competition and that Ards had a presence there, through Aaron and me“.
Aaron added “it was a wonderful event to be taking part in; the atmosphere was electric, with 100,000 spectators around the course. For me, the swim was a great personal triumph as I left the water with the professional guys, in 55 minutes, that’s like doing 152 lengths of Ards Leisure centre pool!”
Aaron and Thomas also did there bit to promote the area, particularly the
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great facilities, roads and beautiful scenery in which to cycle and run. They also encouraged their fellow contestants to come here to compete.
In his congratulations, Cllr Jonathon Bell, Council Service Committee Chair, Ards Borough Council, said “This is a tough competition and both Aaron and Thomas are to be congratulated on completing the three disciplines. Thomas did particularly well, finishing 153rd out of 2,500 competitors”.
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Submitted by comberlass on Mon, 2007-07-23 16:52.
