Tough challenges raise cash for hospice

A Doncaster man has raised £500 for the borough’s hospice after taking part in two Iron Man Challenges.

John Grierson Wattam (52), of Hatfield, a dad-of-three, took part in Iron Man UK in Bolton and Iron Man Barcelona to raise the cash for St John’s Hospice. In each race he swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles and ran 26.2 miles.  In Barcelona he completed the challenge in 10 hours 58 minutes, knocking 42 minutes off his UK time.

John, who has now completed ten Iron Man Challenges, is aiming to complete the Iron Man UK and Barcelona again next year to beat his times and to raise more cash for Doncaster’s hospice.

John did the two challenges in memory of his aunty, Linda Grierson (61), who died in the hospice a year ago from ovarian cancer.

“I wanted to raise money because of the care the hospice gave my aunty and because of how highly my uncle Sandy spoke of the place,” said John.

“The Iron Man Challenge is painful to complete and it hurts the competitor but the pain is nowhere near what someone has to go through after bereavement,” added John. “This was the driving force behind me completing these two challenges.

“In Bolton I fell off my bike, but I got a strong sense of my aunty being there. That overwhelming sense made me get back on my bike and keep going. I did it in my aunty Linda’s memory.”

Lindsey Richards, fundraiser at St John’s Hospice, said: “I want to thank John for completing these gruelling competitions to raise money for our hospice. Every penny raised will go towards our patient care and comfort.”

Anyone wanting to sponsor John for the two Iron Man challenges next year, which will again raise money for the hospice, can email him on astanton1976@hotmail.co.uk