Hatherleigh farmer Joe Rayson might be slightly built, but an interstate endurance contest over the weekend proved he is an “iron man” in every sense of the word.
In the space of just over 11 hours on Sunday, he rode his bike 180km, swam 3.8km and then completed a full marathon run of 46km.
The 34-year-old was one of 1500 competitors in the Busselton Ironman Challenge in Western Australia.
His overall time of 11 hours, 27 minutes and 37 seconds across the three codes placed him 403rd in the field of 1500.
The ranking would have been even better if not for a tyre puncture.
Cheering him on were his wife Elle and their infant son Bentley.
Such a remarkable feat of endurance was considered unlikely several years ago when Rayson suffered a severe illness.
However, Rayson has made a strong recovery with playing football, regular training and farm work on the family’s cropping and grazing properties.
Rayson has always maintained a good level of fitness since first pulling on a guernsey as a junior with the Hatherleigh Football Club well over 20 years ago.
In contrast to Sunday’s summery weather, his most recent game with the Mid South East Eagles was in the very heavy conditions at Kalangadoo in mid-September for the A Grade grand final.
The gruelling exercise regime for Rayson over the past three months comprised frequent early morning laps of the Millicent swimming lake as well as indoor training at home with a treadmill and exercise bike.
He told The SE Voice that Ironman events are not scheduled by him for 2023.
“I have had great support from Elle but next year will just be about playing footy,” Rayson said.
“We flew over to Perth, hired a car and had a good holiday over a nine-day period.
“It has only been the past three months that I have trained for the Busselton Ironman event.
“There were many early mornings and long hours on the treadmill and on the bike.
“During the footy season, it would just be training each Tuesday and Thursday night.
“I did do a half-Ironman contest in Geelong back in 2007.”
Rayson shares a passion for the triathlon event with his cousin Michael Wetherall who nowadays lives in Queensland.
“He also competed with me at Busselton,” Rayson said.
Since 2004, the Busselton Ironman triathlon has been a bucket-list race for athletes all over the world.
Busselton is renowned for being the place to go for a personal best with one of the flattest and fastest on the global circuit.
