Billy Monger reveals joy at passing major triathlon milestone in epic charity Kona bid for Comic Relief

Billy Monger has spoken about passing a major milestone as he continues the road to Kona and triathlon’s IRONMAN World Championship in October.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Comic Relief, the 25-year-old former race car driver – now a popular TV presenter and personality, notably for Channel 4 F1 – will take on the sport’s most brutal test in Hawaii on October 26.

After suffering life-changing injuries in a near-fatal race crash in 2017, Billy had both his legs amputated, but he has not let the severity of his injuries stop him from pushing boundaries in sport.

Back racing within a year of his accident, Monger clinched podiums in British F3 races, and in 2021, made his first venture in endurance sport, raising £3 million for charity when he walked, cycled and kayaked across England in four days.

Raising vital funds for the charity, Billy will race in Hawaii as an IRONMAN Ambassador Athlete and has his sights set on the record for fastest double amputee on prosthetic legs.

Hoping to break the record by finishing in under 16 hours, 26 minutes and 59 seconds, Monger’s journey will also be filmed as a documentary that will air on BBC One and iPlayer in 2025.

Massive milestone for Monger

Monger has already reached a major milestone in his amazing challenge by successfully completing his first competitive triathlon – the perennially popular Outlaw Half in Nottingham. The challenge facing him – a 1.2-mile swim, followed by a 56-mile bike and finished with a brutal half marathon (13.1 miles).

Billy successfully passed that first test with flying colours – completing the course in 6:36:50. He came through the swim in 33:17, followed that with a 3:10:47 bike and then topped things off with a 2:39:01 half-marathon.

The finish line pictures show just what this meant to Monger, something he emphasised in his post-race comments. He also detailed the challenges he had faced along the way.

Billy said: This was the first actual event I competed in to try and PREPARE myself as much as possible for KONA

“The run course was particularly tricky & brutal for me as a Double Amputee with a good chunk of off-road to manage & overcome

“This was the first time I’d ever attempted to Run a Half Marathon… but WE DID IT

“You can see just how much this one meant to me (definitely no tears under those glasses btw) I learnt a lot about myself that day.

Kona lies in wait

While Billy was delighted with his performance in Nottingham, as he stated this road is a long and challenging one, with the brutal test of Kona lying in wait in October.

The race is over the full Ironman distance – a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a full marathon (26.2 miles). And it takes place in tortuous conditions – notably the unrelenting heat that has ended the hopes of many of the sport’s greats down the years.