Nine months ago, Owen Peddle was 23.5 stone, unhappy with how he looked and unable to swim a full length of a pool.

Determined to make a change, he was inspired by two friends and signed himself up for the Swansea Ironman 70.3, a half-distance version of the Ironman triathlon.

What faced him was a 1.2-mile swim, followed by a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run, half-marathon distance, to finish.

“The real win for me was getting myself to the start line,” he said. “The actual event was the cherry on top.”

The race in Swansea arrived on 6 July, one of the hottest days of the year so far, and saw Mr Peddle cheered around the course by supporters shouting “Pedz” in 32C-heat.

He finished in eight hours and 32 minutes.

Mr Peddle, from Rogerstone, Newport, gained a huge social media following in the build up to the race as he shared his training on TikTok and Instagram, something he said helped keep him “on the straight and narrow”.

“I’ve never really trained this hard or applied myself to anything this much in my life,” he said.

The DJ and events manager was inspired by two of his closest friends completing a full-length Ironman in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, last September.

“I was not happy with how I looked or who I was becoming, really” he said. “I just knew something needed to change.”

Mr Peddle, a former prop who quit rugby at 22, said he chose the event because it was a real challenge for him.

“I couldn’t do any of it to start,” he said.

“It’s the most unnatural thing to swim, then bike, then run,” he added.

Even playing rugby from the age of 15, he had always “pretty heavy and pretty unfit”.

After he stopped training for rugby, his fitness levels dropped further.

Trips to the gym yielded little result because he was not applying himself properly or enjoying himself.

“I knew it was bad. I knew something had to change but it just didn’t click until I saw that (Ironman) in Tenby.”

Working with his coach, he built up his strength and stamina gradually, losing four stone (25kg) over the course of his training.

He started with 20-minute bike rides and 20-minute runs, alternating one minute running with three minutes of walking.

“I was getting a bit anxious come Christmas time when I still hadn’t run10km and biked over 40km and I hadn’t swum the distance in one go,” he said.

But he put his faith in his coach and waited for the results to come.

He was also conscious that he needed to be careful not to injure himself and was worried about his knees and hips in particular.

“It was also about making sure I don’t over-train. It was quite a delicate balance,” he said.

As the event approached, he was training close to 10 hours a week.

Mr Peddle said the gradual reduction in weight as a result of his training had been much more sustainable than previous attempts to lose weight.

“Slowly changing stuff for me worked really well,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go, but it’s a nice start.”

In addition, it brought mental health benefits.

“The mental clarity that comes with training 10 hours a week is brilliant,” he said.

Being confident he could complete the event at the start line was “the most important thing”, he said.

He felt “elated” crossing the finish line.

“It was very emotional.”

“I’m definitely going to do something else like it again,” he said.

“In the future, not next year but in a couple of years, Tenby is on the list, so [is] the full Ironman,” he said.

Next year would be too soon, but “maybe 2027 or 2028”, and he would also like to compete in the Ironman 70.3 event again, perhaps abroad.

“I really do enjoy the training,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to go back to being the person I was, with no motivation and no drive.”