FORMER Tavistock Athletic Club member, Harry Wiltshire, took on the ‘Celtman’ extreme ironman triathlon in north west Scotland.

On the back of his Ironman success in Kona, Hawaii (where he finished 21st in the world, second Briton on the day and third fastest ever Briton), Harry had decided to try his hand at something more unusual and plumped for the ‘Celtman’ .

The race consisted of a 3.4km open water swim, a 200km bike ride and a marathon, most of which was off road, and 17.5km over part of the Beinn Eighe mountain range.

The course was so harsh that entrants had to take a compulsory support runner for safety on the mountain section that included two monros (peaks more than 3,000 feet). Harry had enlisted his Tavistock AC team mate, Martin Exley-Deane for the dubious honour of supporting him through the tri-athlon day and then accompanying him across the mountains.

Harry set the tone for the day in the swim – a 5am start and the sea loch waters of Torridon at just 10 degrees did not deter Harry and he led the 250 strong field out of the water and onto the bike section.

A 60km game of cat and mouse with overall sixth finisher, Mark Duggan ended when Duggan ran out of steam. This left Harry with a 140km ride in strong crosswinds and driving rain out in front on his own. He held on, but only just, coming in ahead of a chasing pack.

Another fast transition from Harry allowed him to open up a three minute lead as he joined up with Exley-Deane to go over the mountain ridges.

They heading up the first climb to Spidean Coire nan Clach. It was this first climb (rising 1,000m in less than 2km) that proved decisive as Harry was fastest by five minutes. Once on the ridges the pair found their stride and with excellent navigation increased their lead as dangerous weather closed in. Race organisers were forced to close the high mountain route for safety at 3.30pm but by this time Harry was off the high tops and on his way to the finish through the valleys with victory looking secure.

By the time he had reached the finish line in Torridon Harry had opened up a lead of 15 minutes and he set a new course record of 11 hours 39 minutes 48 seconds, knocking four minutes off the previous record.