BECOMING AN IRONMAN

Published: 14/08/2025, Written by: David Van Wetherill

Since retiring as a Paralympian table tennis player in 2021, David Van Wetherill has been pushing his physical limits in ways most people would think impossible – and 2025 is, once more, proof of that. In this article, the Sports Direct training ambassador reflects on his year so far. From his journey to the Chicago HYROX World Championship and setting a marathon world record to preparing for his first Ironman, the three-time Paralympian shares his experiences of setbacks and successes, pain and purpose – and reveals the lessons this year has taught him about himself.

Growing up with a disability has made me inherently motivated to push my limits and maximise what I can do. I was born with a hole in my heart and a degenerative bone condition called Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia, which causes significant joint pain and discomfort.

While some things remain physically impossible, my focus has always been on getting fitter, stronger, and more resilient – on my own terms. This mindset helped me thrive as a table tennis athlete, even through intense pain and eventually a total hip replacement. If my journey has taught me anything, it’s that true strength isn’t about perfection, but about how we respond to challenges. You never truly know your limits until you test them, and in 2025, I’ve really tested mine. This past year has been one of the most intense and painful – yet rewarding – periods of my life. It’s been relentless, unconventional, and far from how training is “supposed” to look. But then again, when have I ever done things the way they’re supposed to be done?

Credit: INSTAGRAM / @Wetherill.para.fit and @Sportsdirectuk

THE ROAD TO CHICAGO

The goal wasn’t originally HYROX. It began last year with a journal entry:

• “Break the crutch marathon world record at the London marathon - April”
• “Complete an IRONMAN on crutches at IRONMAN Copenhagen - August ”

This season was about becoming. It was about utilising every last possible moment to transform into an endurance machine and strive towards the limits of what’s possible. My philosophy has always been one of amor fati and memento mori – loving your fate and remembering that time is precious, that there will come a time when I will struggle to be able to do these things. To live immediately and roll with any subsequent punches. I’m awaiting another hip replacement, I’m in tremendous amounts of physical pain and I can barely sleep, yet it has catapulted me into the best shape of my life – and I’m savouring every single second of it. You are hurt the moment you believe yourself to be. If it’s physically and mentally possible, then it is now or never...

MY FIRST HYROX EXPERIENCE

I dipped my toe into my first HYROX race in Madrid in October, a week after running the Amsterdam half marathon on crutches. HYROX had been calling me for a while. I’d always trained with a hybrid approach throughout my career – training for life as I call it – a mixture of strength, endurance and mindset so that I can be ready for challenges or opportunities at any given moment. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I can do now. HYROX was perfect – a race against yourself, the perfect combination of structure and suffering, strength, speed and muscular endurance, where you push and pull with discipline and consistency. What’s more, you get to race and experience all of this alongside everyone else on their own relative journeys, elite athletes and everyday athletes alike who, like me, have their own purpose, all whisked along in the same direction at the same time. The moment I crossed that finish line in 2:00:38, something clicked. I loved everything about the race… it was beautiful. I shoehorned a new goal:

• “Run a sub-1:45 solo HYROX race on crutches”

From there, I’ve never looked back. In November, I completed a solo race at HYROX Manchester, a doubles race at HYROX Dublin, and then tripled down on an arduous winter training block with renewed vigour and intention for 2025. Training for HYROX had become my perfect training for life, my perfect training for building towards a record crutch marathon, with consistency and with purpose – without completely writing off the days to come. It was never about times, nor the medals or the records. They are great motivators but HYROX is more than just a race. And becoming a Sports Direct Training Ambassador has now given me the platform and the motivation to keep showing up and to inspire, not only for myself.

RUNNING, TRAINING, CLIMBING AND MORE

From December to April, I trained relentlessly in the gym alongside my full-time job, ran with my community run club, climbed mountains with my partner and entered every road race, every trail race and every fitness competition possible in a bid to fine-tune my resilience. Every single day, I relished that precious feeling of being able to move. Despite the growing pain of my disability, I’d never felt more disciplined or motivated.

By the end of my 16-week London marathon training block, I’d completed five 10ks, three training camps, two half marathons, two CrossFit competitions, and another two HYROX races – a doubles with my partner in Glasgow (1:24:27) and a tapered foot-off-the-gas sub-1:45 solo in Warsaw (1:41:47) a week prior to the marathon record attempt. I’d already ticked off my HYROX time goal. I was buzzing, I was ready and I felt like a machine.

TRAINING: NOT BY THE BOOK

With adaptive training, your body is always in negotiation with your goals. Some days, the plan goes out the window. I have to adapt to manage my bone condition – train hard when I can, and actively recover like my life depends on it when I can’t. The push and pull between order and spontaneity is constant. Within that chaos, I’ve managed to find a rhythm and I’ve managed to find an honest accountability.

WHAT HAS WORKED WELL?

• Consistency, over perfection
• Purpose, in every session – even when the body doesn’t want to follow suit
• Self-awareness – knowing when to push and when to pull back
• No regrets – accountability in knowing you’ve physically and mentally left no stone unturned

None of it is linear. I’ve had to learn the hard way how to train and compete without burning out, how to adapt when pain creeps in – and when not to push through it. Feeling good? 1000 box step ups for time. Not so good? A few lengths in the pool and a sauna. Training and competing many times with such intensity in such close proximity isn’t ideal for performance for anyone – let alone someone with a degenerative bone condition. However, pushing through has calloused my mind and strengthened my mental resilience to keep going to a point where otherwise even the smallest of steps might feel impossible.

But I wasn’t about to stop there… the impossible IRONMAN dream was seeming more and more possible and qualification for the HYROX World Championships was starting to feel like a real possibility…

I dived straight back into HYROX. But I’d be lying if I said it was smooth.

FROM DREAMS TO REALITY

Exactly a week after the London marathon, I completed a solo race at Sports Direct HYROX London Olympia (1:47:03) before running my hometown 10K in Plymouth – I wasn’t missing those races for the world. My body was starting to feel the strain and so I gave myself more than a few days rest to recover before HYROX Berlin later in May. I had one eye on the World Championships, so I was keen to feel fresh for the first time ever going into a HYROX race, where the weekend ahead was a priority over daily life and training. I didn’t go out too hot, paced my stations better, remained consistent on the runs and came in at 1:36:14 – my fastest time yet.

And a few days later...confirmation of entry into the HYROX World Championships! I was overwhelmed with gratitude. To have this opportunity to race and showcase adaptive HYROX alongside the best athletes in the world – adaptive and non-adaptive athletes alike – was something that the Paralympics never quite gave me. A shared stage, all of us judged only by our grit. This is the future I aspire to see in the sport and is everything I had been working towards.

BREAKDOWN: BURNOUT AND REDEMPTION

At a time when my body was telling me to dial back, receiving the news that I would be racing in Chicago gave me resolve. Despite the new PB in Berlin, I was completely burnt out, raw, fatigued – and deep in a hole. And I now had a World Championships to squeeze in alongside two more team CrossFit comps and approaching one of the heaviest phases in my original IRONMAN build. I desperately needed to up the volume in the water and on the bike, having focused predominantly on running during the HYROX season.

LEARNING FROM THE PAIN

Managing the breaking point of months of cumulative fatigue required a strategic shift. With constant travel, back-to-back events, and minimal recovery windows, I had to start treating recovery not like passive downtime but like a core discipline, just as important as training itself, more than ever before. Nutrition, yoga, breathwork and cold water therapy became essential but so did continuing to listen to my body. I had to keep adjusting effort based on daily readiness, not ego or training plan.

Letting go of my ego and maintaining discipline during prep races was the toughest challenge – something I was getting better at as the season went on. It was initially very hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere and emotion on a HYROX track. Over the years, I’ve learnt the hard way that you don’t get fitter by doing more and going faster, you get fitter by moving with intent and recovering smarter. In the weeks leading up to Chicago, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to push my body that far but when you’ve got a whole community behind you, you can find another level.

COMFORTABLE WHILE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

With Sports Direct HYROX Cardiff approaching, the beginning of June now became another preparation race for what was to come. My body was screaming. Comfortable with being uncomfortable. I raced a men’s solo on the Saturday (2:10:11) – ego aside, my slowest time yet – before my first ever back-to-back races on the same weekend, a doubles on the Sunday alongside fellow Sports Direct Training Ambassador, Fin Dearsly. It was easily one of the many highlights of my HYROX season.

When that morning alarm went off, I had to remind myself more than ever that movement is a privilege and a blessing, and that there will be a time when I may regret not scraping that barrel and seizing the opportunities I have been blessed with. You don’t fall to fail, you fall to rise in redemption. I gave it everything. Powered by human spirit and the support of Sports Direct and everyone in the stadium, we redefined what I thought was possible and absolutely sent it beyond the pursuit of victory to a time of 1:20:26. More than just a race.

CHICAGO: LESSONS I'LL CARRY FORWARDS

Despite entering race week in Chicago depleted, exacerbated by travel and jet lag, one thing is for sure - none of that mattered as an adaptive athlete when we’ve overcome far greater challenges and given everything just to pull on the HYROX vest and be there on the start line. I felt it. And I felt it again and again with every lap. None more so than with the honour of stepping up for the final wall balls of the season, surrounded by the HYROX family. That rare, soul-deep kind of pride that only comes when you know – really know – nothing else matters when you’ve truly given it your all.

I was unsure if I’d even make it to the start line, let alone the finish, and it’s for moments like that which make pushing through the challenges of daily life so much more bearable. I’ve never wanted to reach a finish line more.