A HARNAM father who turned to alcohol, food and painkillers to cope with the death of his mum has been facing his demons and will be taking on his first Ironman challenge in her memory.
Simon Maguire’s mother Martine died aged 34 of breast and brain cancer when he was 15.
The managing director of Luxury Family Hotels said: “After 25 years of fighting my own demons, I want to help others who have experienced loss. This is my motivation for my first Ironman challenge in honour of my mum.”
About three years ago he recognised he was “not in a great space” and had a problem with alcohol and pain killers, which “had been going on for some time”, as well as weighing 21 stone.
“I just didn’t really like the person I saw in the mirror and with two young kids I could only see it going one way. I didn’t want them to suffer like I had with my mum passing away at a young age. I kind of realised this wasn’t a great space to be in," he added.
The 40-year-old says it hadn’t really hit him until he met and had his picture taken with England cricketer Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff who was staying at a hotel where he was working.
“I just look back at that photo and I wasn’t proud of the person I saw. Hence a bit of head scratching and decided I really need to make an effort to try and get fit and healthy to do something about this," admits Simon.
And that is exactly what Simon did - starting his new journey with boxing and Salisbury Park Run as well as going to the leisure centre at Five Rivers.
Picture taken by Simon on one of his run
“I just started to build up some momentum and lost some weight. I was coming towards the anniversary of my mum’s death.
"I thought I’ve got to do something that really is difficult because it needs to give a signal to her that things turned out ok.”
Talking to his 15-year-old self now he would say: ”Understand this isn’t going to hit you in the way you expect. It’s going to be ups, downs, lefts and rights but do take time out to process and mourn and don’t feel like you have to rush back into life straight away.
The Ironman challenge takes place on March 25 - which also marks the 25th anniversary of his mother’s passing - will see him swim 3.8km, cycle 180km and run 42km.
He says he is “looking forward” to doing the challenge.
To prepare Simon has been training between 13 to 14 hours a week with 4am starts running in Churchill Gardens where he has been able to enjoy the stunning surroundings of the city during these quiet hours.
It all started with “little steps” for Simon like going out on a walk. “If you can just start to build a little momentum every day. Then slowly but surely the momentum gives you more encouragement," continues Simon, who is fundraising for Alabare.
“With the problems I was facing I was really lucky to have great people around me who supported me to breakaway from those issues. But not everyone is that lucky. I heard of the work Alabare do in Salisbury particularly with veterans. To ensure they get the support that they need often coming back without family around them it felt like the right charity to support.”
Simon has already raised £6,000. To make a donation visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/martinemaguirememorial25
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