Derek Burnside proves he's an Iron Man

COALBURN man Derek Burnside, of Dunn Crescent, achieved a fantastic time of 11 hours 43 minutes and 50 seconds at the gruelling Barcelona Iron Man Event, which included a 3.8km swim; 180km cycle and 42.2km run.

By The Newsroom

Published 16th Oct 2010, 19:41 BST

Despite suffering an agonising injury to his right leg with 20km of the run remaining, Derek (43), a prison officer at HMP Shotts, bravely went on to complete the course just six days after the death of his dad Ian.

"It was an injury to my IT band and the pain was absolutely excruciating," Derek said. "I could hardly walk, which added 40 minutes to my time.

"There was never any doubt I would finish. If I'd had to crawl over the line I would have done it.

"It was very difficult running so soon after my dad's death, but my mum Catherine insisted I take part."

Finishing the course saw Derek raise around 500 for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

For more information on this story, pick up a copy of this week's Carluke and Lanark Gazette.