Preparing for one of the world’s toughest triathlons poses a challenge for full-time, professional athletes – but Eurobodalla Ironman Daniel Beby has managed to juggle fatherhood and work while training for last month’s iconic Kona Ironman event.
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The World Ironman Championship, known for it’s gruelling course and conditions, was no match for Beby, who spent months gearing up for the world-renowned event in Hawaii.
After qualifying for the event at the Port Macquarie Ironman in May, the Mossy Point tradie took a well-deserved break before embarking on an rigorous training schedule, riding up to 400km on weekends and running 70km a week.
“I work and I’ve got a family, so I was only able to dedicate 20 hours a week to training,” Beby told the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner.
At the end of the day I’m just a dad who tries to fit that in on the side. It’s not my life. I’m a dad first, tiler second and Ironman third.
- Daniel Beby
“I was getting up at 2.30-3am in the morning and finishing to be on the job at 7am and I was out riding my bike at minus one degree some mornings.
“The training is brutal and because I’m a physical worker, you train and then have to go and back up for a day’s work. I’m a tiler, so I’d be on the tools all day and there was no recovery.”
Drawing on a running background, Beby came to the sport just five years ago, with the Kona event only his fourth Ironman competition.
His hard work would see him smash his goal, crossing the finish line in under 10 hours.
He said competing at the world championship had been a lifelong dream.
“When I was a kid, I watched (Kona) on TV and Greg Welsh was out on the lava fields running, and I thought, ‘that would be good to do that one day’,” he said.
“All these years later, I’ve actually done the race and ran where he ran.”
He said the Kona atmosphere was the most intense Ironman he had experienced.
From the time the cannon went off in the swim, there was punching.
- Daniel Beby
“The experience over there was a lot different to racing in the Australian Ironmans, purely because everyone was next level,” he said.
“Everyone I was competing against were either professional or semi-professional.
“From the time the cannon went off in the swim, there was punching. You had to earn your space in the swim.
“I thought it was going to be intense, but not like that.”
After a solid 3.8km ocean swim and a smooth 180km ride, Beby was forced to endure Hawaiian heat and humidity for a taxing marathon run.
“Because the wind never came up, when we went to run, it was just hell. You couldn’t cool down,” he said.
“You’re running on the lava fields and on the highway, so it’s just all black. It’s something I’ve never experienced.”
While he doesn’t have plans to return to Kona at this stage, he hopes to keep competing in Australian competitions.
“At the end of the day I’m just a dad who tries to fit that in on the side. It’s not my life. I’m a dad first, tiler second and Ironman third.”