Veteran to Ironman

Aim

The aim of my project is to hopefully help to fund a road bike and the apparel needed to compete in an Ironman The event will be for charity

Who are we?

I am Anthony, a 44 year old British army veteran who left the army in 2005 to embark on a career in West Yorkshire Police. Unfortunately just three weeks after leaving the army, I sustained a triple leg fracture which was so serious that I almost had to have it amputated.

Luckily I had an amazing consultant who performed a series of surgeries to save the leg, however I was told that I would never run again.

In 2011 I stated to run again, something I loved and competed to a high level in the British army.

I ended up running six marathons between 2012-2015 with a PB of 3:03:52, not bad when you only have one fully functional leg. I have lost feeling due to nerve damage in most of my lower left leg.
unfortunately in July 2015, I sustained another major injury and stopped running / training completely. Also during this time, I became and ambassador for Garmin, Brooks Running and the London Marathon, as well as writing a monthly article for Men’s Running magazine in the UK.

After piling on 40kg in 10 years I decided in January 2026 that enough was enough and that I have to lost weight and return to training, so far I’ve lost 10kg and weigh 100kg (September 2026). I have to have a target!

Why am I crowdfunding?

Training for an Ironman event and entering an Ironman event is very expensive. Whilst I don’t like asking for people to help financially, it will assist me in being able to fund:

A bike, nutrition, professional bike fitting service and apparel, as well as an entry fee.

Competing in the Ironman event will also mean I raise thousands of pounds for charity for Blesma which is a limbless veterans charity.

Also, the average salary of an Ironman competitor is £250,000 per year, hence why for someone earning a modest salary working 60 hours per week and training for 14 hours is a tough act!!

How we’ll spend the money raised

As mentioned above, I will use this to buy a road bike/tri bike, apparel including running gear, swimming gear / wetsuit, and a professional bike fit.

Whilst I appreciate this is a big ask, I intend to raise £5,000 for Blesma - the limbless veterans charity. 

Community impact

The funds raised for Blesma will help to assist limbless veterans, from funding prosthetic limbs to welfare and support, it’s a great cause and one that’s very close to me. 

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support, because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share the project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 12th December 2026 at 12:46am