Local man Simon Batty, from Saundersfoot, watched Ironman Wales in 2011 with his two children, Harry and Emily. Spurred on by the simple question, "Could you do that Dad?" he entered a bizarre kind of mid-life crisis.

A couple of stone overweight and having never run a marathon, completed a sea swim or ridden a road bike, he was a little concerned at his lack of fitness. His fears were confirmed the next day when he couldn't even run from Saundersfoot to Wisemans Bridge without stopping to walk a few times. Things got worse when he tried his first sea swim and discovered that straight lines and speed just don't come naturally.

Somewhat shocked by quite how unfit he had become by his mid-40s, he decided to go for it, but to make it something other than a simple, selfish mid-life crisis. He has decided to raise as much as he can for Tenby RNLI. So far he has raised nearly £800 and was delighted to get his first two local sponsors - The Lounge, in Saundersfoot and Pembrokeshire Bikes, in Narberth.

As he works away from home and travels a lot, he was unable to join one of the local clubs or work with a coach, so he decided to commit to training, 9-10 hours a week wherever he happened to be. Over the last year he has run across the Forth Road Bridge, trained in Poland, cycled around numerous rural villages in England and even run around the Disney hotels in France. He has seen the inside of more hotel swimming pools and gyms than he can care to remember.

Since last year he has lost two stone, completed the Pembrokeshire Coast Triathlon and two of the Pembs Council Go-Tri races. In June he entered and successfully completed the Long Course Weekend, which included his first proper sea swim, first marathon and first ride over 100 miles, all in one weekend.

Breaking his toe in August meant he had to focus on his bike and swim training while it healed, with expert help from Ross at Tenby Physiotherapy.

So now, with less than two weeks to go, his focus is moving from training to fund raising and to hitting his target of £2,500. All donations, no matter how small, will make a real difference and can be made through http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/simonbatty">www.virginmoneygiving.com/simonbatty Everything will go to Tenby RNLI.