Local Funeral Director Tracey Rimmer (nee Warrior) was cheered across the finishing line by her husband and supporters after completing the Ironman Austria challenge to raise funds for The Alice House Hospice.
Tracey, who works at John Meynell Funeral Directors in Darlington and Newton Aycliffe, both part of Dignity Funerals, swapped her top hat for running shoes to take on the Ironman challenge in Austria.
On completing the challenge Tracey, who took part in the challenge with her husband, said: “I thought I would be really emotional crossing the line, but I was smiling from ear to ear. I was buzzing the whole way down the final stretch, the noise from the crowd was incredible.”
The Austrian Ironman course is a true demonstration of sporting prowess, with participants first completing a 3.8 km lake swim, followed by a 180.2 km bike ride and finally a 42.2 km run, all to be completed in under 17 hours!
Tracey trained morning and night 6 days a week, starting back in December 2019, right up until the competition in September. Tracey managed to smash the competition target of 17 hours, going through the finish line at 15hrs 19mins.
The challenge marked the culmination of Tracey’s fundraising efforts for The Alice House Hospice, the only adult hospice in the Hartlepool and East Durham areas. Alice House Hospice works to ensure that people affected by a life limiting illness or death of a loved one receive the care, comfort and support they need. Tracey said: “I’ve seen the work that the Alice House Hospice do first-hand, and it’s incredible, I just wanted to give something back to them when they give so much to others.”
Janice Forbes, Community Fundraiser at The Alice House Hospice, added: “Well done to Tracey on such an amazing achievement – what a true Warrior! I hope that supporting local patients and families was a good motivator throughout training and the incredible challenge itself. Massive thanks from everyone at Alice House and thanks also to all of Tracey’s sponsors and everyone at John Meynell Funeral Service for their wonderful and ongoing support.”
So far Tracey has raised over £900! A huge thank you to those that have already donated, if you want to support Tracey her just fundraising page is still open – https://www.justgiving.com/Tracey-Warrior2