A sports therapist from Swanage, Alison Milmer is now recovering after completing an amazing five continuous ironman triathlons, called doing the ‘Quin’.
This extreme sports challenge consists of a 12 mile swim, a 560 mile bike ride and a 131 mile run – a total of 703 miles!
Alison, who fixes people who have sports injuries for a living, battled through the gruelling challenge over six days. Speaking after finishing, she said:
“My feet have swollen up like sausages but walking around is alright – it’s just the feet. I think spending such a long time on my feet has made them swell up. I’ve got a couple of blisters and I had an achilles issue, but my legs don’t feel too bad!
Excellent running and cycling routes around Rempstone Forest
Basing herself near Burnbake, just outside Corfe Castle, Alison was able to take advantage of the excellent running and cycling routes around Rempstone Forest and up to Moreton. For the swim, she did laps around Swineham Lake near Wareham – an amazing location for open water swimming.
So why did Alison put herself through the pain? She said:
“I did it because I like a challenge – I like to see what my body can do. People think they can’t do stuff but you can do anything if you put your mind to it – honest!
“I also did it for charity – I’m raising money for the Miscarriage Association as they helped us during a very dark time in our lives 14 years ago.
“It was the beginning of a journey we didn’t know we were going to take, which was full of grief and uncertainty as sadly we lost two angels. We were then blessed with our first child and then went on to lose two more angels before we were fortunate to have our second child.
“Towards the end of the challenge some complete strangers stopped their car and said that they’d seen me running around all day and asked what I was doing and why. My friend Bev told them, because I had to keep going – I couldn’t stop and they donated £10, which was lovely. A random act of kindness!”
“Miscarriage is often seen as a taboo word and people don’t know how to react when you tell them. Having the association guiding us through this, was invaluable. Please donate if you can to help this amazing charity.
Alison Milmer after completing the challenge, with her husband Culvin
Incredible support of her family and friends
While this was a solo challenge, Alison is the first to admit that she couldn’t have done it without the incredible support of her family and friends.
Her husband, Culvin planned the routes and sorted out the schedule, while friends kept her company for the whole of the challenge, even in the middle of the night. She said:
“It was a team effort. For the swim I had kayak support. On the bike I had so many riders ride with me and that got me through, otherwise I think I would have fallen asleep, you know! They carried food for me and if I’d had a puncture – which fortunately I didn’t, they had the spare inner tube, so I didn’t have to carry anything.
“On the run, loads of people helped out. Some of the girls did the bike ride and then did the run the next morning, getting up at 4 am with me – I know I’m nuts but they didn’t have to do that – they went above and beyond. I was saying, ‘What are you doing? Go home!’ It was amazing – I think it was a bit addictive and they all wanted to help – it was a real bonding thing!”
She’s already contemplating doing a ‘Deca’
For the time being, Alison is resting and putting her feet up – partly to reduce the ‘sausage effect’, but she’s not hanging up her trainers, as she’s already contemplating doing a ‘Deca’ – that’s 10 continuous ironman triathlons, so double the challenge that she’s just completed! She said:
“I’m 40 next year and I want to do something really big!”
Further information
- To support Alison’s challenge and to donate to the Miscarriage Association go to her fundraising page
- For help or to find out more about its work, the Miscarriage Association’s website has lots of information, including its campaigns and fundraising activities.
