Forster triathlete Adrian Trotter will join an elite group when he completes next year's Australian ironman race in Port Macquarie.
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This will be his 10th and entitles him to be officially known as an Ironman Legend.
He contested his ninth earlier this month and recorded his best individual result when he was third in the 45-49 years division. This was won by fellow Forster triathlete Damian Hiles, featured in last week's Advocate.
Trotter's time was 10:08.12. His personal best for the race, that takes in a 3.8 kilometre swim, 180 kilometre bike and 42.2 kilometre run, is nine hours, 56 minutes.
He was pleased with his performance.
"For the amount of training I put in, I was quite happy with the time,'' he said.
Generally speaking, ironman triathletes are driven athletes, who seem to train non-stop all year. That doesn't apply to Trotter due to work commitments.
"I don't start training until halfway through December or January.
"A lot of guys seem to go all year and stay consistent, but I try to cram in.''
"Laziness and a lack of motivation comes into as well.
"It's hard to stay motivated for a sport like that, it's a lot of commitment and this year was a bit of a lazy one to be honest.''
He estimates he trains 13 to 14 hours a week at his peak.''
Trotter concedes his preparation for the swim leg suffered this year.
"I only swam a couple of times a week for a month leading into it; I usually concentrate more on the bike,'' he said.
Trotter entered his first ironman in 2003 when the race was held at Forster-Tuncurry.
"I always said I'd have a go at it and people started calling me 'gunna'. So I thought, bugger it, I'll have a crack,'' he explained.
"Then I got tangled up with a group of blokes who I now call mates and kept going from there.''
He clocked 10:51 in his maiden run.
"Forster was a pretty tough course compared to Port. The roads aren't as rough up there,'' he said.
Completing 10 races wasn't in the equation when he first started the sport.
"I had no ambitions, other then to enjoy myself,'' Trotter said.
Before entering his first race Trotter virtually had to teach himself to swim.
It's hard to stay motivated for a sport like that, it's a lot of commitment and this year was a bit of a lazy one to be honest.
- Forster triathlete Adrian Trotter
"I couldn't swim more than 400 or 500 metres. I still don't class myself as a good swimmer,'' he said.
"But when I first started you had to qualify for ironman, you didn't just pay your money and turn up like now. I had to do a half ironman first.
"So I went and saw Keith Pearce, and he wrote my first program for me.
"Once I got the idea of what was required I did my own thing."
He's qualified for the world championship in Hawaii on four occasions, but hasn't taken up the option.
"It's just so expensive to get there,'' he said.
However, he did race in the world 70.3 (half ironman) event in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2017 and competing overseas is something that he may consider again.
Trotter isn't sure if his 10th Australian ironman will be his last.
He'll again start in the 45-49 division.
"When I get to 10 I'll make my mind up as to whether I'll keep going,'' he said.
"I do this for a bit of fun. When it stops being fun, I'll stop.''
FORSTER-Tuncurry will again be the venue for venue for the NSW Club Championships to be held on Saturday, May 25.
This is one of the rare triathlon events where competitors race as a team.
Races will start at Forster Main Beach.
