This was printed in my Local Government Magazine.



What does NELC’s very own Graham Marcussen have which Robert Downey Junior doesn’t? Graham is twice the guy Robert Downey Jnr is because he is a Double Ironman! So, before we ask him to ‘don his shiny metal suit and right the wrongs of the world, what does this actually mean to our very own Street Works Inspector!

An Ironman is 2.4 mile swim, 112 bike and 26.2 mile run, hard enough you’d think.

Double Ironman is the most gruelling of challenges which would even make Olympic decathletes whimper. Swim 4.8 miles, cycle 224 miles and run 52 mile one after the other with no rest or sleep… This year’s event was held over 2 days at a site near Litchfield in Staffordshire

So what makes our very own superhero tick?
6 weeks before the race Graham had a tumble on a run, badly injured his knee and thought he had put his back out with a re-occurrence of sciatica. The knee healed enough for Graham to think he had a chance of entering the race but, no matter what stretching he did for the back nothing would touch the pain going down his leg into his heel. About two weeks before the race Graham found out that the back issue was a condition called Piriformis syndrome. Armed with this knowledge he started a different stretching regime and used a golf ball to massage his muscles, this self help treatment led to the condition easing with only two days to go to the race! So, to the race day itself……

The event starts with the 4.8 mile pool swim (304 lengths) just the thing to blow off the cobwebs. Graham had made the decision to have an easy swim and be more relaxed for the next stage – a gruelling bike ride. Fortunately the other contenders sharing a lane with Graham were a pleasure to swim with, and kept out of his way which made things easier for Graham. No one was more surprised than him when his fellow competitors said he was in the lead! No mean feat for a 56 year old.

So, out of the water in two hours and seventeen minutes and after a three minute transition time – just enough to shake the damp out of your Speedos - , Graham saddled up for a 224 mile bike ride - a 14 mile loop ridden 16 times!

Having already had a voluntary soaking in the pool, Graham was now subjected to seven and a half hours of rain which for the first 120 miles was to say the least, a heavy downpour! However, as others started to join Graham on the course his spirits lifted and he warmed up to the extent that he also led this event for nearly three hours. It continued to rain until mid afternoon when it cleared up and the sun came out as a welcome respite. With over a hundred miles of peddling still to go, night started to fall but luckily the excellent Nite Flux lights that Graham had were, to quote the man himself.., “awesome” and he had no problem seeing the road ahead.

Some time around midnight, Graham heard another competitor say something about youths and a hose pipe – just when you thought it couldn’t get any wetter!

After he left the feed station, Graham came down the long hill and as he passed Roundabout Garage something stepped out of the shadows and he felt a strong jet of water hit him in the face. Temporarily blinded by this, Graham hit some gravel on the drive way and came off the bike. At the same time he felt a couple of blows on his back, which he was not sure if it was fist or boot. Where Robert Downey Junior’s Ironman would have been able to repel the youths with his metal suit’s integrated weapons system, our plucky hero grabbed the hose and turned it on the youths to keep them back, he then managed to get back on the bike and continued the race whilst the police were called to deal with the trouble makers. However, this episode affected Graham’s focus and in his words.., “it kinda went down hill from there, lost my confidence and just turned the pedals over, can’t tell you how many times I wanted to quit over the next few hours, just kept telling my self one more lap, plus Pink Sally (wife and coach) had the cattle prod ready”. So, with hosepipe Chavs vanquished it was off the bike and into the run – have I mentioned the run – it’s only 52 Miles, a 1.1 mile loop run 42 times, one third of it through a wood! Graham admits that by this stage he struggled for the first 4 or 5 laps until another competitor caught up with him and gave him ‘THE SECRET’ (which was run the down hill sections power walk the up hill ones), then it was just a case of plugging away at it,

42 miles into the run and Graham found the skin rubbing off his left heel. Easy to sort – Graham asked the medic to cut open the offending skin and superglue it back down. No surprise then that the race medic refused Graham’s request and just put a compeed plaster on the heel, Graham found that the last nine laps were very hazy, but a number of competitors ran some of the distance with him, and the turning point was the last reversed lap Graham did accompanied by Steve – also known as Enduroman (no doubt another caped superhero…) one of the organisers of the race- which Graham found very emotional. That finish line had never looked so good. So, after covering an incredible 281 miles over 38 hours Graham can still identify the high points – other racers and supporters keeping him going and sharing their smiles with him, the friendships he’s made, watching these guys hammer themselves with a smile/grimace on their face along with the banter from the commentators and compares on the mike. In fact Graham sums it up the biggest high point as being THE WHOLE BLOODY EXPERIENCE”. Surprisingly the only low point was getting a kicking from some Chavs although Graham is leaving it to the police to prosecute them as he has forgiven them. He also omits to say that he was the only 55+ contender to actually finish the whole event and complete the Double! As a prize he was awarded a free entry in to next years Triple Ironman, the first time it will be run in the UK.
So, Graham, you’ve got a Double Ironman and no doubt you will be getting prepared to enter for a Triple Ironman title but in the meantime…, if you think you could take the pace…., would you like to sign up for this year’s Lumbard Fun Run…? Pretty please……

Got a 6 mile run in this morning, nothing special, nice and easy just over the hour.

Took my socks off when I got back and noticed a toenail had come off while I was running, no pain, as I still have no feeling in my toes yet.

Kia Kaha

JFT GRaham

Got a very windy 35 in on the bike last night, 2:07, a bit slow as I'm not recovering like I used too, plus my bum bone was very painful after the first hour in the saddle.

Plan a 6 mile run for this evening, lets see if they've got any of the bounce back.

Kia Kaha,

JFT Graham.

Had an easy 6 mile run before work, just to ease the last bits of crap out of the muscles from the Double.

The feeling in my toes is slowly returning, it's a bit like the feeling you get as local anesthetic wears off, that strange tingling sensation.

Thought for today: If I'm running as fast as I can today, how come, I can run faster tomorrow ?

I’ve just finished a weights session and I realised that some of you guys won’t know me and will have stumbled across this blog by accident or through a search engine. Allow me to introduce myself.

Greeting and Salutations,
I am Reverend Graham of Tri Talk fame, a legend in my own mind, born in England in July 1953, ex-military, worked in Local Government for over 30 years. I took ordination in 2004 the title Reverend is the nearest in Thai to what I am, my Thai name is Khonsonsang and my Indian name is Sudama, I am a practising Buddhist of the Thai forest Tradition.

I got into Triathlons from a running background, everything from 10k to marathons, then in 1985 I stepped up to Triathlons, all distances from sprints to Double Ironman,, last years Double (08) was interesting, I DNF’d at 180 miles into the bike with hypothermia, 3 Ironman distances have ended the same way.

Worked out a new training plan with my coach/wife Sally and completed the 4.8 mile swim 224 mile bike and 52 mile run in 38 hrs on 1st and 2nd of August this year (09). As a result of this I am now putting together a training plan for next years Triple Iron UK on August the 7th 8th and 9th 2010.

As I go along I’ll be adding to this blog, sharing some links and training tips, hope you enjoy the journey.

JFT Graham

Well, this is my first post/blog, it's been a week since I completed the 2009 Double Iron Uk and the feeling still hasn't come back into my toes.

The idea of this blog is to keep you up to date with my next exploit, 2010 Triple Iron Uk.

The photo is of me being tattooed by Achan Insom in Thailand (traditional long stick method).

Hope you'll drop back as I get into training.

JFT Graham