Brave dad raises £3,500 in Ironman competition
HE lost both his parents to cancer and now Rob Green has taken on one of the toughest challenges in the Ironman calendar to help fund vital research into the disease.
The dad-of-three from Bridgend raised more than £3,500 for Cancer Research Wales by completing his first ever Ironman competition.
A quantity surveyor for Wales and West Housing, he competed in the sixth annual Ironman Wales event in Pembrokeshire, coming in 581st place out of 1,700 athletes.
Rob, 38, completed the challenge – which sees competitors swim 2.4 miles in Carmarthen Bay, cycle 112 miles through the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park before going on to take part in a marathon – in 12 hours, 31 minutes and seven seconds.
He said: “I have personally been touched by cancer, losing my mother to breast cancer at the age of 11 and my father to lung cancer at the age of 14.
“I’d like to do my bit to fight cancer. This was me doing my bit.
“Without the encouragement of my family, friends and my colleagues Diane Barnes and Herman Valentine I would have struggled to finish.
“If I was flagging a bit I would see one of them and find the motivation to work through the pain.
“Herman made me laugh! He must have covered as much of the area as I did. He seemed to appear everywhere, from being there when I left the water in Tenby to being sat in a deck chair on the side of the road when I was cycling through Narberth.”
Rob took up the challenge in January and has spent more than 300 hours swimming, running and cycling – including cycling from his home to work in Cardiff – losing two and a half stone along the way.
“I bought my first bike as an adult just to do the Ironman,” he said.
“I’ve always enjoyed swimming but had never entered a triathlon. Just getting across the finishing line was enough for me, but to be placed 581st and completing much quicker than I thought is amazing.”
Cancer Research Wales is Wales and West Housing’s chosen charity.
Deputy chief executive for WWH Shayne Hembrow said: “From surveyor to superhero. What an achievement! We are so proud of what he has done.
“Rob truly is a Wales and West Housing Hero.”