TV chef Gordon Ramsay to race Ironman Wales this September

Kitchen Nightmares star returns to triathlon one year after Kona debut, racing in the 45-49 age-group against 321 other athletes

Published: February 25, 2014 at 11:46 am

If you're keen to prove that you deserved a slot at Ironman Hawaii last year more than Gordon Ramsay did, then good news – the TV chef will be racing Ironman Wales this September.

The celeb will be racing in the male 45-49 category, with 322 people in his age-group. The top athlete in his age-group last year finished Ironman Wales in 10:16:03 (take a bow Tom Bishop). By comparison, Ramsay finished the gruelling Kona course last year in 14:04:48.

Ramsay lost over 12kg to get in shape for his first Ironman, saying that he looked like "a *bloody piece of asparagus" after following a training regime that saw him get up at 4:30am each day. His appearance in Hawaii last year drew some controversy however, with many age-groupers taking to Twitter to complain that he bypassed the normal qualification system.

This year's Ironman Wales sold out in record time, with 2,150 athletes expected to cover the 3.8km swim off Tenby beach, followed by a 180km bike through hilly Pembrokeshire countryside and finishing with a 42.2km run into the centre of Tenby.

If you've entered this year's race and are worried about staying on track over the next eight months, check out our recent article on six training tactics for Ironman Wales.

Will you be racing at Ironman Wales? Are you looking forward to lining up against Chef Ramsay? Let us know in the comments below!