BROMHAM triathlete Mike Milstead is hoping he’s got the steel to take on the world when he competes in the Ironman World Championships in October.

The 35-year-old, who is sponsored by Cycology Bikes in Chippenham, will be jetting off to the warm sands of Hawaii to undertake a gruelling 2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and full 26.2 mile marathon in the 35-39 age group on October 12.

Milstead, who works as an ultrasonic engineer and trains with Welsh international triathlete Phil Kibble, earned his Hawaiian berth after finishing sixth in his age group (09:12:22) at the Ironman Austria event at the beginning of July and the Wiltshire man is delighted to have finally clinched a spot at the world championships.

“I’ve been doing triathlons since 2007. I used to do a lot of swimming and one of the guys I met through that suggested that I give it a go,” said Milstead, who was also the fastest British competitor in his age group in Austria.

“I’ve done sprint distance triathlons and been to the European championships (in Spain, in 2011) and I’ve done two full Ironmans at this distance.

“Getting to the Ironman World Championships had been a goal of mine for a while and I wanted to achieve it sooner rather than later so that I could tick it off the bucket list.

“The thing with triathlon is that it’s not really a social sport and it doesn’t leave a lot of time for other people in your life.

“I train 20 hours a week and it’s like another full-time job on top of what you do.

“But I want to be competitive over in Hawaii and do as well as I can.”

Milstead is set to be accompanied by his wife Laura and training partner Mike Cox when he flies out this October.

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