THE dust has settled on another successful Ironman UK event in Bolton, which once again produced some fantastic performances from local athletes.

From the Ironman veterans who pushed their bodies to the limit in pursuit of a new personal best to those who battled inner demons to make it over the finish line before the 17-hour cut-off point.

HR manager Mathew Elliston, of Horwich, took the plaudits as the town’s first athlete home.

The City of Chester Triathlon Club member completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run in a lung-busting 10hrs 34mins 45secs.

His heroic display ensured a place in the top 20 in his 40-44 age group and 67th position overall out of almost 2,700 finishers.

Anna Smith produced another stand-out performance.

She represented Bolton Arena’s Get Active team and certainly led by example, coming home in 14:18:35.

Bolton’s fire service was once again represented with pride by an eight-strong crew of true Ironmen.

Marc Murphy led them home with a personal best time of 10:46:54 in his third Ironman UK, while he was closely followed by Rob McDonagh in 11:31:52 and Mark Berry in 11:39:20.

It was not all about the time though. Bolton firefighter Dan Winters taught himself to swim over the past year as he trained for his debut at the event, where he rode his dad Mark’s bike in tribute to him after he lost a battle with cancer.

Winters came home in 15:44:15 to a hero’s reception in Le Mans Crescent.

Members of Astley Bridge Cricket Club were out in force to cheer home their star batsman Rick Northrop, who took a year out of cricket to train for the event.

All the hard work proved worthwhile after he finished in a very respectable 13:44:36.

Read Bolton brothers Joe and Andy Settle’s firsthand account of their Ironman experience on Page 20.

Selected results from Bolton Ironman competitors featured in The Bolton News: Firefighters ¬- Paul Norris 14:02:21, Marc Murphy 10:46:54, Mike Lewis 13:15:49, Mark Berry 11:39:20, Alex Sugden 14:26:01, Jason Jones 13:22:08, Dan Winters 15:44:15, Robert McDonagh 11:31:52. Others Matthew Elliston 10:34:45, Rick Northrop 13:44:36, Andrew Patterson 14:28:33, Lee Hill 11:54:50, Stuart Greaves 12:11:44, Derek Selby (Bolton’s oldest competitor) 14:45:31, Martin Selby 10:56:55, Neil Critchley 14:05:51, Marcus Chester 14:12:32, Anna Smith 14:18:35, Joe Settle 15:43:43, Andy Settle 14:05:49.