Steve defies the odds to finish (From Western Telegraph)

Steve defies the odds to finish

4:00pm Friday 28th September 2012 in Sport

A Llawhaden man said he just had to “man up” after defying a chest infection to complete the Wales Iron Man earlier this month.

Steve Rogers, 40, had already completed Iron Man events in Frankfurt, Lanzarote and Tenby last year when he lined up at the start for this year’s event.

His participation this time around had been in doubt after falling ill in the build up to the event. But he not only completed the challenge, he did so in a time of 12 hours 20 minutes, beating his 2012 time by 37 minutes.

“I very nearly pulled out but in the end I just had to man up,” he admitted.

“I think conditions were easier this year, especially with the swimming, and my experience of the course helped improve my time.”

Steve described the Tenby course as the most difficult he has competed on, and said his next challenge will be to complete the event in Nice, France, next summer.

He also said he would like to compete in Tenby again next year and complete a ‘hat-trick’ of finishes.

Steve is a former rugby player and got into Iron Man events after competing in marathons and triathlons.