Man recovers in hospital after Ironman challenge

A MAN from Henley has completed an Ironman challenge despite discovering an injury which meant he had to go to hospital.

Jack Trailor-Thompson, 26, swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles and ran 26 miles in Callela, near Barcelona, two weeks ago.

He took on the challenge in memory of Sammy Phillips, the younger brother of his oldest friend Jamie, who died in a car crash in February last year.

The BMW he was travelling in struck a tree between Bix and Nettlebed. Sammy’s friend Lewis Moghul, 22, from Whitchurch Hill, who was driving the car, also died.

Mr Trailor-Thompson, of St Andrew’s Road, Henley, completed the challenge in 10 hours and 49 minutes, 40 minutes quicker than his target.

He set off from Garbí Beach in Calella on October 6 for the swim, despite finding out after the feat that he had heat exhaustion and ischemic colitis, a condition which affects the large intestine.

Participants have to swim a lap at the beach, cycle two loops along the coastline from Callela to Badalona, which includes a 750m elevation gain, and the final leg is a three-lap run between Callela and Pineda de Mar.

Mr Trailor-Thompson, who works in accounting, has raised almost £4,000 for RoadPeace, which supports road crash victims.

The charity supported Sammy’s family, including his brother Jamie, sister Zuzu and their mother Justine Morris, who live in Nicholas Road.

Mr Trailor-Thompson said: “I can’t explain the feeling you get crossing that finish line and to be able to do that in Sammy’s memory felt amazing.

“By the end, I felt really sore and I had to go to hospital in the evening in Callela. The ordeal was a bit scary but I’m in the UK now and I’m doing well.

“During the final leg it was really hard to keep going. I got to one-and-a-half miles to go and I was really starting to shut down. It was weird. I think it’s because I knew the finish line was coming. My body was started to tell itself to chill out.

“During the challenge, I had exercise-related heat exhaustion and on Sunday evening I had a body temperature of around 40C but I was super, super happy with the result.

“I’m really scared of deep water but that didn’t really affect me on the day, which was probably due to adrenaline but also the fact that you get this real sense of community. “There were a lot of people there, all with the same goal. It’s weird because you’re on your own but you also feel like you’re part of a team.

“When they were prepping everyone to get into the water, the marshals were saying, ‘You’re all here’, ‘You’ve all got your why’ and the why is a big thing. I was thinking I had to finish it for Sammy. There wasn’t really a question of finishing it or not. I had to finish it.”

On reaching the finish line, Jack was greeted by his girlfriend Millie, who supported him for the duration of the challenge.

Mr Trailor-Thompson said: “Millie was incredibly proud of me. She ran about 10km chasing me around the route.

“I saw her maybe eight or 10 times, which really spurred me on. Every time I ran a lap, I probably would see her twice. Having her supporting me made a massive difference.”

He said the swim was easier than he anticipated because of good conditions.

He said: “The swim was really straight forward. There wasn’t really a current. My body felt absolutely fine the whole time.

“I didn’t have any issues at all so I was quite happy with that. The route for the cycle ride was fantastic. It was right next to the Mediterranean so you’re overlooking the ocean for most of it.

“There was a point about two thirds in, where I started struggling a little bit and I’d taken in a lot of fluids by that point so my tummy was quite sore but I pushed through it and took it a little bit easy for a few minutes and was able to recover and get a good speed after that.

“The first four-miles of the run were really tough. Your legs don’t want to move in the way you want them to. There were definitely points where your brain is telling you no but you’ve got to push through that.

“Once I got through those four miles, I was fine. I started picking up a little bit of speed and stopping at various nutrition stations and that was my strategy for the rest of the race, really.

“When the pain came and the mental challenge, that’s when you think of why you’re doing it. It’s only natural at those points that Sammy occupied my mind and it was a big driving force to get out of a rut and move on.”

Mr Trailor-Thompson hopes by raising money for RoadPeace, there can be real change.

He said: “It feels amazing to know that I can hopefully do something to make a real change and prevent an unnecessary loss of life.

“Graduated driving licences should really be in place and hopefully RoadPeace can use that money to help drive that change.

“Something needs to change in the legislation to protect the lives of people who are probably too young and too inexperienced to know how much danger they are in when they are driving cars.

“Fundamentally, today compared to 20 years ago, there are so many more cars on the road and I think it’s crazy that the onus is put on 17-, 18- or 19-year-old boys to keep themselves safe when your brain may not be in a grown enough state to make rational decisions.”

To donate, visit tinyurl.com
/3duxk7h4