AS A former Royal Marine, current firefighter and footballer with Sauchie Juniors Iain Syme is certainly no stranger to a challenge, writes Graeme Lafferty.

But even for the former Commando, who cheated death during a tour of Afghanistan back in 2008 when he was hit by an IED, the task of completing an Ironman was one of his toughest ever tests.

The current Beechwood Park star, who served with the 45 Commando, fought back from over a month in hospital and a further year in rehabilitation to then go on and complete his tour with his unit.

And he believes it was that determination and mental strength that got him through his latest endurance challenge, comprising a 2.4 mile open water swim, a 112 mile bike ride then a 26.2 mile run to finish on route to raising thousands of pounds for charity.

Syme told the Advertiser: “The idea came about when one of the lads who was injured with me in Afghanistan got in touch and asked if I fancied doing the Ironman with him. At first I wasn’t sure because I wasn’t a great swimmer, but eventually the challenge became very hard to resist.

“In the end, my mate ended up pulling out to focus on his attempts to make the paralympic athletics team for the 400m, leaving me in the lurch a little bit with that because I had already entered at that point, but we had a good laugh about it. I did the race for Scope who are a brilliant charity who help people with disabilities to get on their feet and give them more opportunities. It was a great cause and I am delighted my efforts have help raise vital funds for them. I always knew mentally within myself that my marine training would kick in and get me through it. It is a natural trait of any trained marine though to push through a challenge like that when your body might be telling you to stop.

“I was hit with an IED back in 2008 during my tour. I was hospitalised for a month and flown home to the UK. Then I spent a further year in rehabilitation before I got fit again and went on a further tour to Afghanistan. My first thoughts after coming out the forces were ‘would I ever play football again?’. So when I got back to not only playing, but then signing with Sauchie at junior level, I didn’t think I could have asked for anymore. To then go and complete this Ironman is just a dream come true.” It wasn’t all plain sailing for Syme who had to juggle his commitments to Sauchie Juniors, the birth of his daughter, Emily, and even the odd training mishap on route to completing the challenge he felt was even tougher than climbing Mount Everest.

He said: “Trying to devote any of my free time to training was tough after the birth of my beautiful daughter, but that also inspired me too. My football with Sauchie was actually a bit of a hindrance as well with the season lasting so late into June, so as soon as it finished I had to double my efforts. My first attempt at an 80-mile bike ride ended at 30 miles when the spokes on my wheel snapped. I completed the climb to Everest base camp with some of the lads from my unit when I first came out of the forces, but I reckon this was way tougher than that. The open water aspect was the toughest part and you really just have to adapt your mindset to push you through.” The 28-year-old Clackmannan native hopes his challenge can be an inspiration to others, but admits he could not have done it without the love and support of his family and friends.

Syme added: “I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and donations which helped me reach my target. My supporters of ‘Team Symey’ were brilliant cheering me on around the course. But of course, I couldn’t have done any of it without my wife Gemma Syme, who has had to put up with me for the last year training for it, and suffered all my battles with me over the years. She has once again came up trumps and supported me as always. Hopefully I can inspire people to go out and achieve great feats no matter what set backs they have in life after all we only get one shot at it.” You can still donate to Iain’s fundraising efforts at the link below: www.justgiving.com/iain-syme