220’s ‘garden half-Ironman’ raises over £2,700 for NHS
220’s Features Editor Matt Baird completed a half-Ironman in his back garden to raise money for NHS Charities Together. Here's how all the garden action unfolded...
Showing readers that it is possible to still train and ‘race’ within lockdown, the ‘race’ started with a 50-minute swim with his legs tethered to his 2.6m paddling pool, before a bottom-numbing 90km turbo bike leg with Zwift, which took 3:30hrs. The half-marathon run involved 1,400 lengths of Matt’s garden, with his children manning the aid station and neighbours cheering over the fence as Talking Heads’ ‘Road to Nowhere’ played on repeat.
Matt finished the run in 2:10hrs and broke the toilet roll tape in a total time of 6:40hrs. Here’s how the ‘triathlon’ unfolded…
You can still donate money via his JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/matthew-baird220 – let’s get him over the £3k mark!
.@mattbairdtri has now started his garden half-Ironman in aid of NHS good luck Matt! pic.twitter.com/abArnL7aff
— @220Triathlon (@220Triathlon) April 9, 2020
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Our ‘Garden Half-Ironman’ for @NHSuk charities is in full swing! Here’s our @mattbairdtri approaching the end of his 1.9km swim pic.twitter.com/HQ4EvlA0vM
— @220Triathlon (@220Triathlon) April 9, 2020
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.@mattbairdtri is now on the bike leg of his garden half-Ironman in aid of @NHSCharities I hope there’s a beer ready for you at the finish line Matt! #gardentriathlon #garden703 #NHSheroes pic.twitter.com/QRpsGXTqRQ
— @220Triathlon (@220Triathlon) April 9, 2020
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Our #gardentriathlon is starting to make @MattBairdUK suffer a bit… With only a couple of km left of the 90km static bike ride he’s about to start the 1406 laps of his garden.
Please share and sponsor to help raise money for @NHSCharities – thanks!https://t.co/9WqRqyQHUG
220 Triathlon Team
Journalists, reviewers, coaches and athletes 
