Sports Spotlight . . . from PEMBROKESHIRE SPORT

Goodwick United footballer Ryan is a real ‘Iron Man’

When the ‘Iron Man’ series came to Tenby last summer there was a number of local entrants who graced the competition and one of those was undoubtedly Goodwick United footballer Ryan Thomas, who was in his first such event and showed typical grit to finish a highly creditable 409th out of over 1,200 competitors.

He first got involved when he was on a plumbing course at Pembrokeshire College and his tutor was Tenby United rugby player Nicky Rees, who had entered a few ‘Iron Man’ competitions and whilst chatting to Ryan about them planted the seed of Ryan taking part to help raise funds for a worthy local cause in the Phoenix Project at Goodwick.

At first, Ryan was going to enter an ‘Iron Man’ competition in Austria but when news broke of the intention to hold ‘Iron Man Wales’ in Tenby he knew that it was absolutely the right venue to set out on his first foray into his new challenge.

Determined to be in the swim!

Ryan has always had a name for his fitness levels in football, with his determination to cover every blade of grass in his efforts to help secure a win for Goodwick. But the real measure of his determination in this event came from the fact that when he started his training he was an absolute novice swimmer who could do only do a bit of breast-stroke in the pool – and knew that the swimming component of ‘Iron Man’ was a huge 2.4 miles in open water!

So he took a few lessons with Sebastian at Fishguard Leisure Centre, who got him going in terms of free-style technique, and within a few weeks Ryan had bought a wet-suit and gradually built up his stroke power, no matter what the weather, in Fishguard Bay. He eventually did a 2.4 mile swim in training just a few weeks prior to the Tenby event and when he was 1,091st out of the water in a time of one hour and 20 minutes he was quietly satisfied!

Overtook 660 cyclists!

Then it was on to the cycling component after a bit of a run back to transition and this was the area that Ryan had targeted as strength because he had been cycling for 18 months before hand and had a good bike as a bonus. Initially he had been cycling from his home to Haverfordwest, a distance of about 20 miles, and gradually increased his momentum so that he knew he could cover the 112 miles of the ‘Iron Man’ quite well.

In fact, he actually joined Nicky Rees in cycling the actual course laid down for the Tenby competition a few times so he knew all about the hills and descents – and this attention to detail paid off as he completed the 112 miles in six hours and 20 minutes. As well as the lift from the superb crowds, another real boost for Ryan was the fact that he passed no fewer than 660 other competitors in that time, to move up to 431st  place!

Great to finish well in Tenby

That set him in good hwyl for the running component of ‘Iron Man, the little matter of over 26 miles in a marathon! He was already a regular runner even before he decided to take on ‘Iron Man’, with runs of five to six miles as part of his training regime for football. He gradually increased this tally to about 20 miles on a few occasions but never ran the full marathon distance before the big day. His longest distance covered was from Wiston through the Gwaun Valley to Fishguard – and he was pleased to complete the marathon in a time of four hours and nine minutes, to finish in 409th place with an overall time of 12 hours 21 minutes.

Brilliant memories and

already looking forward

Ask Ryan now and he readily admits that it was great to arrive back in Tenby just before 7.30pm to meet a huge crowd who were brilliant, not least because of the fact that his wife Anita, who had been supporting him all day, was joined by two year old daughter Chloe, Anita’s parents and Ryan’s mum to celebrate his wonderful achievement. As well as finishing so well he also raised vital funds for the Phoenix Project in Goodwick – and has already registered for the ‘Iron man’ in Tenby next year, this time aiming to raise funds for the RNLI.

Ryan was inevitably stiff for a few days afterwards and was tired for a month, perhaps because two weeks later he took part in the Gower Triathlon and finished that alongside his previous experiences in the Broadhaven Triathlon (twice), the Long Course Weekend in Tenby and a competition in Bala. He has already started building towards the 2012 event by attending more swimming sessions at the Fishguard Leisure Centre as a means of improving what is his weakest of the three components.

Back to football at Phoenix Park

He’s also made a quiet return to football at Phoenix Park and aims to continue in his role as a striker with Goodwick United, where he started out as a nipper and where he has scored more than his fair share of goals in a long career which also saw short spells with Letterston and Merlins Bridge. Ryan has played in three Senior Cup Finals, picking up winners’ medals in two of them, plus a league winners’ memento whilst with the Wizards.

And finally . . .

So what of the future for Ryan? He has wonderful memories of his first ‘Iron Man’ and told us that he was surprisingly not nervous in the build up to the massed start in front of a huge crowd (he says he was far more nervous at the Gower!) He will never forget the scenes in Tenby before, during and after the competition and says that going through Narberth was pretty special too.

He is already focussed on ‘Iron Man 2012’ at Tenby and it is clear that he is aiming to build on this year’s experience – and PembrokeshireSport.co.uk can only wish him continued success and enjoyment because Ryan Thomas is a great credit to himself, his family and local sport in general!

 

 

 

PHOTOS:

Ryan Thomas setting out on his run.

Ryan getting into his stride alongside the Tenby town wall.

Ryan getting up speed on his bike.

Clearly thrilled to finish so well!

Ryan celebrates with daughter Chloe.