Lieutenant Dave Anderson of the Culdrose based 849 Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control (SKASaC) Naval Air Squadron, knows his hard training will stand him in good stead when he competes in the UK Ironman Triathlon, for the second time, on 22nd July 2012 in Bolton, Lancashire.
This ultra distance triathlon event consists of a 2.4 mile lake swim immediately followed by a 112 mile bike ride and then a 26.2 mile (marathon distance) run, over some of the hilliest and wind swept terrain in GB. If that wasn’t enough, Dave has to complete all these within 17 hours or be disqualified. Dave knows that it is going to “…hurt a lot…” but he is quietly confident of achieving a sub12 hour mark, because he has been training relentlessly, and recently completed half marathon runs at Falmouth, the Helston triathlon and at the Royal Navy open triathlon championship in which he won his category. Just last weekend his training consisted of a 2 mile sea swim at Gyllinvase, Falmouth, followed by a 75 mile hilly, wet and windy bike ride, then a 20 mile run around the Cornish countryside, which is a typical weekend for Dave, and the distances and time out training increases weekly.
Lt Dave Anderson, a former Royal Marine with over 25 years experience, is entering this competition to raise funds and more importantly awareness of the work of the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund (RMCTF) as well as Rotary nominated charities (Cancer Research, CLIC, Leukaemia Research Fund, and Children’s’ Hospice UK). Dave feels the pain he is going through in his strict training regime as nothing when compared to the pain, stress, injuries and for some, the ultimate sacrifice of men from 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines. The statistics say it all, 75 marines have been killed, and well over 250 have suffered serious life changing injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it’s not over yet, 40 Commando Royal Marines deploy to Afghanistan yet again later this year. The RMCTF provides help through the Recovery Pathway, helping the wounded and injured recover, assisting those as they begin their transition to civilian life, helping those when others can not and for those left behind when they have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Dave is no stranger to active service having joined the Royal Marines when he was only 17 years old, serving in 42, 40 and 45 Commando in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. Dave qualified as an Aircrewman with Commando Helicopter Force before transferring to the Royal Navy, qualified as an Observer and has been serving in 771 Naval Air Squadron principally on Search and Rescue duties as well in the Maritime Counter Terrorism role, and he has just started his conversion to the SKASaC role, and will also be going back out to Afghanistan next year.
Dave who was originally from Newcastle upon Tyne and attended Walbottle High School is extremely proud of his Geordie roots which he feels helped to prepare him for his Service life. “The Royal Marines made me who I am today, their ethos, camaraderie is second to none and they are the most well trained and professional fighting troops in the world with a reputation to match” said Dave. “I feel I owe it to the Corps to try and raise as much sponsorship as I can for this fantastic charity”.
Last year Dave managed to raise over £11,000 for the nominated charities, and is well on the way to matching that amount this year. Anyone interested in supporting Dave can donate through his website: www.justgiving.com/Dave-Anderson849, visit him on Twitter ‘Davie_A‘ or by sending a text donation via your mobile – RMRM64 (and the amount) to 70070.
