A determined Southport dad has completed an incredible 70.3-mile Iron Man challenge, in memory of three much-loved family members who all committed suicide.
Daniel Cardwell swam, cycled and ran the entire distance as he aims to raise £10,000 for The Jordan Legacy after 18 months of gruelling training.
Daniel was devastated at losing his brother Craig to suicide along with his two cousins, Jacqueline Cardwell and Jason Cardwell.
The thoughts of all three drove him on through his epic mission at Ironman 70.3 Weymouth, on the 10th anniversary of the event.
He says completing the route on Sunday (20th September 2026) is the second biggest thing he’s most proud of in his life, behind the birth of his four-year-old son, Thomas.
People can support his JustGiving page here: Crowdfunding For Good From JustGiving
He is someone who knows all about fitness, having played for England Basketball at junior level, although this is the first Iron Man event he has ever attempted.
Daniel, a National Strategy Manager for Energy & Infrastructure for Nationwide Platforms (Loxam Group), made the six-hour drive to the south coast on Friday alongside his cousin, David Harrison.
The two were wearing t-shirts and jumpers made by Southport Workwear with ‘The Jordan Legacy’ on show along with ‘Cardy’ on Daniel’s tops and ‘Coach Harrison’ on his cousin’s tops.
Daniel said: “It has been a phenomenal experience! I finally did it!
“I am still trying to come round from everything that’s happened.
“I have gone through a big range of emotions.
“I have come with a medal from completing this and I can’t wait to show it to my son, tell him how I earned it, and why I did it.
“When Thomas was born it was the happiest day of my life, and this has been the second thing I’m proud of most.
“It was tough! Out of 2,700 competitors, only around 1,700 finished the course.
“I wanted to do everything I could to raise funds and awareness for The Jordan Legacy.
“The number of suicides in the UK isn’t coming down – it’s rising.
“What the Jordan Legacy are doing is supporting all avenues from business, police forces, schools and approaching Parliament to support and reduce these numbers. Steve and Danielle, who run The Jordan Legacy day in and day out, are the true heroes.”
Completing Ironman 70.3 Weymouth has taken a huge amount of training and preparation.
Daniel said: “I was training for 18 months and then drove down to Weymouth on Friday.
“On Saturday it was all about the preparations and getting everything ready.
“I registered then made sure I had everything in place for the transitions, having the right gear, and my bike in the correct place.
“We also watched the Junior Ironman contest which was really good to support.
“It was an early morning start on Sunday, up at 4.30am, and then the event started at 7.30am with the 1.3 mile swim in the sea at Weymouth Bay.
“There were a lot of people in the water so it was like a contact sport!
“I achieved a Personal Best for the swim, taking four minutes off my previous PB. It was a great start.
“After the swim I got out and got dry. My triathlon outfit was on underneath my wetsuit. I just took the wetsuit off and took my time at Transition 1. The plan was to stay calm and focused.
“Then I got going at the start of the 56-mile bike ride.
“I was thinking about my brother and my cousins as I was cycling. They really spurred me on. I wasn’t bothered about what time I finished; I just wanted to complete the course for them.
“The course was very hilly – we rode as high as 1,400 metres. Some people crashed, or damaged their bikes, or they fell off. At one point it was steep so people were pushing their bikes up the hill.
“The sun rose as the day went on and reached 23 Celsius – it was hot!
“The Dorset countryside was really beautiful though. It was a very scenic ride.
“Then we came back down into Weymouth Bay to begin running the 13.2 mile half marathon. We had to complete two and a half laps of the bay.
“I started strongly and felt good. But then I could feel my right hamstring tighten. I just lowered the pace a little and told myself I have to get through this.
“The atmosphere was amazing. There were so many people cheering and encouraging us along the way.
“The support we had was just mind-blowing. I’ll never forget one woman who was shouting ‘keep going, there’s beer and pizza at the end!’
“The people out there in Weymouth were just phenomenal, the backing they gave us all meant so much.
“Finishing the crossing line was an amazing feeling.
“I was so grateful for the support from David, who was coaching me, as well as looking after my social media during the weekend so I could concentrate on the event.
“I’m so grateful to the support from Alice and Suzanne at Southport Workwear. They made our t-shirts and jumpers at short notice, and got in touch afterwards to see how everything had gone.
“In the evening after the race we went for a meal with some friends down there.
“I’ve done it, in memory of Craig, Jacqueline and Jason as well as for Jordan, Steve and Danielle.
“We need to do all we can to reduce these rising numbers of suicides in the UK.”
Each year, over 7,000 men, women and children take their own lives in the UK, impacting almost 1 million people known to them collectively.
The vision of The Jordan Legacy is to move towards a ‘Zero Suicide Society’, that is willing and able to do all it can to prevent all preventable suicides.
The Jordan Legacy CIC was formed in August 2020 following the death of the founder’s son, Jordan Phillip, on 4th December 2019.
People can support Daniel’s fundraiser on his JustGiving page here: Crowdfunding For Good From JustGiving
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