Business Management student George Balshaw was victorious in raising almost £2000 for the Alzheimer’s Society this summer, following a gruelling 70.3 Iron Half Man at Cholmondeley Castle.

The Half Iron Man event consists of a 1.9km swim followed by a 90km bike ride and a 21km run to finish. George’s marathon of a challenge was undertaken partly to fulfil a personal goal but also to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Society.

A terminal condition which affects 850,000 people in the UK, with symptoms including memory loss, confusion and problems with speech and understanding, Alzheimer’s is a disease that George and his family have had to learn to understand and deal with.

“My Grandmother has been diagnosed with dementia for 3 years” George said, “She lives with my Granddad, who suffers with the consequences of the illness every hour of every day and night. The Alzheimer’s Society has released some strain and helped my Granddad by providing clubs for my Grandma to attend, thereby giving him some of his own time back. They have also helped him to understand the disease that he is dealing with” said George, “so I wanted to give something back and to raise awareness of this all-too-common heartache that families are burdened with.

I’ve been building up to the event since signing up in October; in April I completed the Paris marathon in 4 hours twenty two minutes as part of my training.”

George completed the triathlon in an impressive 5 hours and fifty seven minutes, a good hour quicker than he expected.  His training was ongoing whilst he was working on a placement year between the second and third year of his university course.