Newcastle Tri Club had five athletes competing at Ironman Wales and Ironman Italy over the weekend of September 21 and 22 - and what a contrast of emotions and experiences they all had.

On Saturday Tom Walker and Charlotte Clayton successfully completed Ironman Italy.

On Sunday Emma Broadhurst, Jason Riley and Ricki Larkin set off into the churning waters of the Bristol Channel, but the sea took no prisoners and brought an end to the race for Ricki before he got to the run.

For Jason this race was his attempt to complete the Ironman he had started in Bolton three years ago before being knocked off his bike as he came into transition.

However, despite getting round the swim this Ironman was not to be for Jason and he missed the cycle cut-off by just three minutes.

Only Emma - competing in her first full distance event - was able to complete the event, in 14 hours and 28 minutes.

Ironman Italy

Tom Walker: swim 1:25:34, bike 6:33:23, run 4:23:35, total 12:45:22
Charlotte Clayton: swim 1:22:23, bike 7:33:29, run 5:38:29, total 14:53:17

Ironman Wales

Emma Broadhurst: swim 1:06:07, bike 7:03:15, run 6:02:28, total 14:28:03
Jason Riley: swim 1:52:10, bike 8:20:56 (missed cut off time)
Ricki Larkin: swim 2:29:39 (missed cut off time)

Emma's story

The day started off early, with a 3am alarm set to do all the usual pre race practices. 

The forecast wasn’t looking great, so I made some last minute changes to my transition bags and headed down to North Beach. 

The streets were already lined with athletes and spectators. It was a shuffle down the famous “zig zags” to the self-seeded swim start. 

Confident in my swim, I placed myself towards the front of the masses. The start was incredible, the natural amphitheatre effect of the location amplifying the Welsh National Anthem being bellowed out, followed by AC-DC’s “Thunderstruck”, flames and fireworks to really get the adrenaline going. 

The 2.4mile swim was divided into two loops, the water was really choppy and we were joined by some whopping jelly fish! 

The temperature was 16.5C but I didn’t feel that was too bad. 

The second loop was even rougher, it was hard to sight the buoys because the waves were so high. 

I think I went off course but luckily corrected myself before it was too late! 

The exit from the water to transition is across the beach, up the zig zags, and through the streets of Tenby. 

It was unreal. The streets were lined 4-6 people all the way through and shouting your name. 

Heading out on the bike early was a blessing and it gave me time to get as far into the course as possible before the bad weather hit. 

The ride was hilly. Really hilly. And long. Really long! 2,600m elevation over 112miles, some mega hills which just felt relentless…especially the famous Saundersfoot Hill AKA Heartbreak Hill - not given that name for no reason and we had the pleasure twice! 

I really enjoyed the first 60km of the course and felt really strong, but the next 120km was tough. 

The crowds were amazing though, and really get you through it. I had a big support group with me who kept popping up along the route too, which was fab and really gives a boost. 

Hot spots like “wisemans bridge” and “heartbreak hill” didn’t disappoint either. 

It was like riding the “Tour de France”. Unbelievable and really emotional. 

Although I’d be lying if I said I wanted to do the second loop! 

The rain came in and the roads were slippery; there were a lot of accidents and I had to take to it really steady on the descents.

So now I was slow going up hill, and down hill! 

Nevertheless, I headed into T2 feeling relatively good. 

I chose a full change into dry attire and headed out into the run. All good. The run was also hilly, 4x 10.25km loops out to New Hedges and back into Tenby. 

Again, the crowds didn’t disappoint. And neither did my family, coach or team-mates, who made sure I had that personal support whenever I needed it. 

8km into the run, I really started to struggle with my breathing and had to halt the run, walking through the streets of Tenby with what felt like all of the world (all but your brother) telling you to “dig deep and run”. 

It was a dark place when you just can’t catch your breath. 

It was with some really encouraging words from those around me that kept me going (you know who you are!) and I did manage to regulate my breathing and eventually start a “run-walk” to finish the gruelling 26.2miles. 

Absolutely brutal, and right now, I definitely don’t want to do it again. 

But for now, that dragon can get back in its cage! 

It was really sad for me to see my team-mate and fellow competitor Ricki in the crowd, but he helped me a lot when I was struggling with the run. Then word got to me that Jase had missed the cut off too. I was gutted for him.

With huge thanks, and admiration for those who stood and endured the terrible weather for 17 hours. 

My family, Julia and NTC teammates - I really could not have done it without you.

Jason's story

The swim was absolutely brutal. As soon as we hit the water the current and wind changed. 

You came up to take a breath and I was on top of a wave and then came crashing down in between the swells. 

I felt nauseous for the entire swim. 

On the second lap we were joined by 1.5m wide barrel jellyfish. 

I swear the buoys had also moved considerably in the swells. 

On the bike and I was still feeling nauseous and totally empty from the swim as we headed out in fantastic weather for a long ride. 

That soon changed.

The heavens opened and stayed open for the entire ride. 

I had expelled that much energy in the swim I couldn't satisfy my hunger. 

I had eaten all my food and was a long way away from the personal needs bags with my extra fuel. 

I was so hungry I even contemplated picking up the food other riders had dropped. 

The hills kept coming and I ground them out, trying my best to conserve as much energy as I could. 

The roads had become very slick. One of the support bikes even ended up in a hedge on a bend a few miles later 2 marshalls were with a stricken rider who seemed be unconscious. 

I stopped at the last feed station to grab any fuel I could and was informed I had 45 minutes to do 15 miles including the two biggest hills on the course, one of which was aptly called heart break hill. 

I gave it everything to get back in time but to no avail. 

I was exhausted but I desperately wanted to at least start the run, but I was timed out by 3.46 minutes. 

One consolation is that I actually cycled further in this Ironman attempt than the last one and was able to walk away from it also. 

I vowed there and then I would never attempt another Ironman race butI've since slept am currently waiting for Ironman Leeds registration to open!

Ricki's story

I felt confident going into the day with a DNF not even in my mind.

I’ve done the swim distance a couple of times now, both of which around 1hr 45min.

I self-seeded at 1hr 40min with confidence. I hit the water and powered to the first turn, going along the back straight as the age groupers (who started 20 min earlier) came through.

I was being thrown about by the waves, swallowing water and finding it difficult to sight, looking up I could just see waves so had to stop to sight.

Massive box jellyfish were about, not happy with the swimmers at all!

I took forever to get to turn 2 and heading back to the beach seemed a bit quicker,.

I checked my watch after lap 1 and saw 1hr 3min, so it was go hard or go home for the second lap.

I really pushed again to the first turn then tried to hold a hard pace down the long straight but the current was stronger and waves were bigger this time.

About half way down the stretch I knew I wasn’t making the cutoff, the safety team on the surfboards and jetski back to shore looked like a good option, but I really wanted to get the swim done just to prove to myself that I can do it.

I got back to the beach on 2hrs 29min (cut off 2hrs 20min). The second lap took an extra 26 minutes despite the harder pace and was twice as slow as my previous half-distance swims.

It didn’t take long to get sea water out of my stomach and I got told I’d missed the cutoff by the race official. 

I was very disappointed to not be out there for bike course or to finish the day on the red carpet. I'm very proud to get a Ironman distance swim done in some of the worst conditions Ironman Wales has had in the last decade. I wouldn’t have completed that swim 6 months ago. 

282 athletes missed the first cutoff or pulled out of the swim in one of the highest DNF rates the course has seen.

I'm holding my head high on the fact I went back out for that second lap and pushed through to finish even when I knew I’d missed the cut off.

Charlotte's story

It’s been a year long commitment to this race. 

Swim bike run when you just don’t want to. Everything about the day was worth it. 

The swim - 2.4miles of Adriatic Sea. 
Heartbeats and Thunderstruck (IYKYK) pumping the system and it’s go time. 

There was some choppiness that I wasn’t expecting and it was just head down, and get to the end.

The bike - 112 miles of Italian flats. It’s a long ride, no way around it. Just settle in for 7.5hrs. 

Eat and eat some more. 

The countryside was beautiful and the climb gave great views particularly on the descent. 

Downside…turns out Italy has lots of flying ant swarms that like to bite. 

Also my shoes decided they wanted to hurt my toes from mile 60 onwards. Suck it up, dig deep and try to ignore the pain. 

The run - 26.2 miles. I really don’t enjoy running yet yesterday I smiled for the entire four laps. 

I’d done the maths, I had time to walk, and I just needed to tick them off. 

The atmosphere was electric. People everywhere. One hell of a street party. With half a lap to go I was done. My Achilles was fried and if I pushed any more it wasn’t going to end well. So I walked it in.

The famous red carpet. My god, there actually aren’t words to describe the feeling and the noise level of coming down the chute. Everything you dream about is coming true, ringing the bell and the famous words.

Charlotte, you are an Ironman. 

Tom's story

When we arrived in Cervia (pronounced Ch-er-via) there was rain everywhere, thunderstorms and generally dead around our B&B.

We thought we'd come to Italy's answer to Blackpool.

However, Ironman arrived with all its glory the following day, the weather cleared by Friday and the place sprung into life.

The race started off with a sea swim, and due to it being a rolling start there was a 45 minute wait to get in the water.

Finally I set off and the water was quite choppy. The swim was much less of a dogfight than expected as I'm used to people trying to drown me.

Sighting was hard with some big waves and wash from the jetskis, the course is almost a large rectangle and one lap, so the long straights lasted forever, 1:25 on the swim.

I drank/absorbed a fair bit of sea water which had an interesting result on my race nutrition, more on that later...

Into transition you run half a mile end to end, most of that with your bike before the mount line.

The course was warm but very enjoyable, long straights down the highway made me kick myself for not learning how to ride a TT bike. 

You reach a countryside section with a short but steep climb we have to do twice, a few people walked sections of this as it does hit 12% and more in places. Then sweep down a short downhill, back to the highway, repeat a lap and then head back into Cervia.

On the second lap I felt myself slowing down a bit and was definitely a bit too fast early on. 6:33 for the bike.

Finally the run section. Four laps of the town, we got to see some great places, cobbled streets, archways and a really lovely harbour, quite a contrast to what we had seen by our hotel at the end of transition.

It was here that my nutrition strategy started to play up, the isotonic drink on all the aid stations was Precision P1000 (basically salty water).

I had too much salt over the course of the race and no matter how much water I drank all I could taste was salt and this slowed my marathon down.

I got through and saw Charl a few times shouting each other on, finally turning home for the red carpet. Run time 4:23.