A TORFAEN husband and wife are set to tackle the Tenby Ironman in aid of charity.

Nathan and Natasha Lewis will tackle the mammoth 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike ride and 26.2mile marathon in aid of St David’s hospice care on September 13 this year.

The couple, who live on Llantarnam Road, have spent months training for the gruelling event taking place on September 13. They have previously taken part in the Haverfordwest fun triathlon as a team, but have never tackled a full ironman before.

Nathan, a self-employed landscape gardener, said that the hardest part of training for Ironman Wales had been trying to find time to fit in all their running, swimming and cycling around work.

“It’s a bigger challenge than we thought it was going to be,” he said.

“Every Saturday we are getting up at about 4am and going on 70mile bike rides. We go for runs and swims during the evenings in the week too.

“We are trying to do enough of one thing and not too much of another and that’s the difficult thing.”

He added that his wife Natasha, 41, had a few injuries and been seeing a physiotherapist on a weekly basis as well.

Nathan, who has run every Newport Half Marathon in aid of St David’s hospice care, added that as they were tackling the ironman in aid of charity it was an added motivation.

“My father passed away about eight years ago and I’ve seen how important hospices are at making you comfortable,” said 37-year-old Nathan.

“St David’s hospice care does some wonderful work and they’re a local charity too.”

He added that it had been difficult training together but they had enjoyed it.

“We have different strengths on the bike and sometimes one of us will want to go up the hill faster than the other so that can be a bit stressful, but it’s worked out well so far.”

Nathan and Natasha are hoping to raise more than £2,000 for charity and can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/Natasha-Nathan-IronmanWales/