DAMIAN LAI completed the Ironman event in Bolton and revealed his relief to make the cut-off.

He said: “The swim was going well until I was blinded by the sun. I couldn’t see a thing and swimming blind is tough, but fortunately I made the cut off.

“The bike was ok, but it was quite undulating and I found it difficult to get over 16mph on average. The bike was cut short by 17 miles due to the fires on the moors which was a shame, but safety had to be paramount.

“The run was basically endurance at its best. I was determined to run all of it apart from the aid stations and managed this apart from the 1st mile as my feet were killing after the bike.

“I was hobbling badly but soon got into my stride. The support by the people of Bolton was amazing.”

Overall time was 13:37:49, Swim (2.4 miles) 2:03:52, Bike (95 miles) 6:03:56, Run (26.2 miles) 5:10:16, T1 9:26, T2 10:22.

u ANDY KILBY completed the swim in 01:34:30, T1 08:25, Bike 08:07:53, T2 10:28 Run 06:23:18 for time of 14:41:38.