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Wednesday, February 12, 2025
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Ironman World Championship Success For Sloan

Weymouth based fitness expert Andy Sloan has just achieved a personal best time while competing at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

Sloan, who owns and operates Procision Fitness Personal Training Studio on Weymouth’s Granby Industrial Estate, as well as Weymouth Fitness Camp, qualified to compete at the event with a top 5 age group finish at Ironman UK in July this year, having also competed at Ironman France in Nice, as featured in the Dorset Echo, just 4 weeks previously.

The Ironman World Championships is the biggest and most famous race in triathlon, and with over 600,000 people competing in Ironman events each year, gaining qualification for one of the 1900 places in Kona is fiercely tough. Sloan said ‘getting to Kona is a massive achievement, as in order to get there you have to qualify by placing high up in your age group at another Ironman event, which is really tough. I managed to put in a solid performance at Ironman UK which was good enough to get me to Hawaii and was delighted of course.’

The course in Kona is renowned as the toughest Ironman triathlon in the world. The event begins with a 2.4 mile sea swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride through the lava fields where temperatures this year hit 100+ Fahrenheit with 35+ mph headwinds at times, and finishes with a grueling 26.2 mile marathon along the coast and through the lava fields in the heat of the day.

Of his race, Sloan said ‘this race was without doubt the toughest I’ve done to date. I found the swim ok and put in a solid time, then on the bike was flying and right up there until the last 30 miles when I began feeling pretty sick, and a big headwind for the last 25 or so miles didn’t help things. I got off the bike feeling pretty rough, and on the run really struggled to get my nutrition down, so was pretty much running on empty for the marathon which wasn’t fun.’

Sloan was looking for a sub 10hr finish, but was happy to cross the line in a new personal best of 10h 23m. ‘I was on track to hit my target until things went bad on the run, but at the end was pleased to get over that line in a new PB time. Competing among the best professional and age group triathletes in the world was amazing, and I’m looking forward to getting back there soon’.

Next up for Sloan is a year off from Ironman racing, as he is turning his attentions to half distance for next season, with a view to come back and qualify for Kona again in 2014.

Andy Sloan

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