Building the finishAfter closing the roads in town, the stands are built the day before the race

As dawn broke at the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, news travelled around the crowds and competitors that Chrissie Wellington had withdrawn from the race. Our first reaction was disbelief, followed by sadness for the super

TW: When did you first race in Kona?SN: It's my fifth start. I was an age grouper in 2006 when I was still working then. I went full time in 2007 and won Ironman UK, which was a much better result than I expected. This will be my fifth Ironman

It was 1987. Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up was at number one, the world’s stock markets were on their way into a tailspin and 26-year old Mark Kleanthous was racing at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.Fast-forward 23 years – many

of Chrissie Wellington winning the Hawaii Ironman and his life changed."It struck me how happy and normal she seemed, despite doing these superhuman feats, and I decided I wanted to have a go at triathlon," he recalls. Harmston, who is now 38, enjoyed running

female in the Himalaya 100-mile stage race in the Indian Himalayas, and in 2006 I was first lady at the North Pole Marathon. I completed my first Ironman-distance triathlon last year, and hope to run this year's London Marathon the week after I return

an Ironman in Hawaii. "It's better to get out there than to hide away," says Simon Ward of www.thetriathloncoach.com. "Be sensible. You should be tapering your training before a race, so walking around in the heat is often enough, combined with light training