Brave athletes woke up bright and early this morning to take part in one of the most physically demanding triathlons in the world, the Bolton Ironman.

Around 1,500 athletes from 43 countries made their way to Pennington Flash Country Park to kickstart their Sunday morning with a 6am 2.4-mile swim.

The water temperature this morning was 18.8C and around 550 people were taking on the challenge for the first time.

The temperatures didn’t feel like a summer’s day and many supporters in the crowd were wearing hats, scarves and gloves.

Read more: Ironman Bolton UK live updates

Ellen McLachlan from near Blackpool spoke about her feelings just before the race started.

She said: “I’ve done two abroad before, but this is the first time I’ve done one here, I wanted to do the UK one.

“The weather isn’t as good as it has been when I was abroad, but I’m excited.”

Another athlete Raymond Mouzon was being cheered on from the sidelines by his sister, who said this was the first Ironman he’s taken part in.

Ambulance, police and safety teams were in attendance, with teams in canoes on the water making sure everyone completed the swim safely.

Read more: Bolton Ironman weekend kicks off with Night Run event

Philip Turner was also in attendance and was completing his 37th Ironman.

The first man out of the water was Rich Hyder from the Manchester Triathlon Club who completed the swim in 52 minutes 29 seconds.

The first woman out of the water was Rebecca McGreevy who completed the swim in 57 minutes 30 seconds.

Love Island contestant Adam Collard was also taking part and aiming to complete his second of three Ironman races this summer.

He’s raising money for the Marie Curie foundation and a spokesperson for the charity said: “We want to say a huge thank you to our incredible supporter and Love Islander Adam Collard who is taking on three triathlons to help support our vital work.

“We're wishing him the best of luck ahead of the big day!”

Read more: Ironkids 2023 takes over town centre for Ironman weekend

On social media, Adam said: “From 17 years old, I’ve always been into fitness and training, I wasn’t happy with how I looked, and I wanted to change that.

“I started out focusing on body building, and then moved into cross fit and functional training in my early twenties.

“Whilst I physically looked shredded, I couldn’t run a mile.

“Now I want to break the stereotype and show that gym goers who look a certain way can also take on endurance challenges such as Ironman triathlons.

“But most of all, I want to do it for something bigger than me, and that’s to raise funds and awareness for Marie Curie who took exceptional care of my grandmother when she was in the final few months of her life.”

Adam completed the swim in one hour and 10 minutes.