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A few days prior to the start of the Bolton Ironman I had the privilege of picking up Richard and Grace Plager from their holiday apartment in Manchester - they were in our area to enable Grace to take part in the Bolton event on 15 July.

Richard, who is 90 years of age, is a long-time member of the ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë.  A wartime naval veteran and an ex-Police Chief from Naples Florida, where at one time he was head of detectives in Dade County, Miami, he is still a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves.

Grace is 60 years of age, was born in Toronto, Canada and is now an American citizen. She has taken part in Ironman events all over the world.

Both are voluntary members of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

Joyce and I live in Anderton, Lancashire, which is the area of the cycle event of the Ironman, and we were therefore able to give Richard and Grace a conducted tour of part of the circuit she would be taking the following Sunday.

Anderton is at the foot of Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moor system which for weeks prior to the event had been on fire, partly due to the long hot summer we had been enjoying, and the cycling route had been changed accordingly. We were able to show them the new route.

I am pleased to say that we had a great day with Richard and Grace and found them to be wonderful, inspiring people.

As for the result: On the day of the event Grace came first in her age group and will next run in the Ironman event which takes place in Hawaii in October of this year.

David Tetlow, member ÍõÖÐÍõÁùºÏ²ÊÌØÂë UK