Billy Monger: “If I don’t make the cut-off times in Kona, we’ve failed”

The thought of a 3.8km Pacific Ocean swim followed by 222.2km cycling and running in the heat and humidity of Hawaii is daunting enough.

Add to that a reliance on specially tailored prosthetics and the focus of the TV cameras as you try and raise another seven-figure sum for Comic Relief, and the pressure mounts.

But attempting to set a new record for a double amputee at the Ironman World Championship will always be small beer in comparison to waking up 
after the “three-day snooze” of an induced coma following a horror motor racing crash to confirmation that your legs are gone.

Nothing much fazes Billy Monger. He admits the cocktail of painkilling drugs might have altered his initial perception in hospital after that fateful race at Donington Park in 2017, but his family reminds him that the first thing he did when regaining consciousness was to scribble ‘Who won the race?!’

“That was instantly the competitor in me coming out,” the 25-year-old reflects, which is a big reason 
why a race against the clock on the Big Island on 26 October and not just completing the Ironman distance very much appeals.

The stuff of nightmares

Monger’s left leg was amputated above the knee and the right leg below it, but it’s his stoicism combined with an almost forensic quest to make the best out of any situation that marks his recovery.

“Coming from a sporting upbringing and competing at a high level in motorsport since I was a kid, I think I’ve always been geared to trying to get the best out of myself,” he explains.

“Crashing is part of motorsport, although you never think it’s going to be that catastrophic, but the doctors were good at keeping my mindset positive and explaining that if I worked hard in rehabilitation I’d still be able to walk, be independent, and have a good quality of life.”

Monger’s crash, caught on cockpit camera, also 
caught the attention of the public and an online 
funding page launched to help his rehabilitation was flooded with donations.

That he was so young, and 
such a promising driver – a British champion from the age of 10 who looked destined for a career in Formula One – extended its reach.

The collision can still be watched, Monger manoeuvring skillfully around the track, when seemingly out of nowhere the stationary Carlin of Patrik Pasma fills the screen. It’s the stuff of nightmares, but what’s also evident is how freakish an accident it was, and how Monger bore no blame.

“It was broadcast live on TV and ended up on YouTube as most of these things do,” he continues. “Being able to watch that moment back and realise from a driving point of view that I couldn’t have done anything to avoid it was good for my mindset. It allowed me to put it down as a ‘wrong place, wrong time’ moment. A case of: ‘That’s happened, what can I do now?’”

Repaying a debt of gratitude

‘Lots’ became the answer. Monger was back in an adapted racing car within weeks, became an insightful motorsport pundit and put his hand up for a first Comic Relief challenge in 2021 with three months’ notice: a kayak, cycle and hike that covered the 226km distance he’ll be attempting in Kona, but over four days.

“After my accident, I had a big pot of money raised to spend on rehabilitating in the best possible way,” he explains. “Without that, who knows where I’d be now. If I could raise money for other people, I felt I could repay that debt of gratitude.”

Raising more than £3million was far beyond expectations and led to Monger’s trainer Andy Wellfare researching future challenges. The one that piqued attention was Ironman and the chance to become the fastest double amputee ever to complete Kona.

Training started a year ago, originally under the eye of Wellfare and former British elite Mark Buckingham, and now with the support of Will Usher who lives closer to Monger’s home in the south-east, with sessions set and adjusted by the smart tech Tri-Dot coaching platform.

Monger is dialled in, committing more than 20hrs a week and adapting as he goes. For example, from October to mid-March, Buckingham insisted he cycle purely indoors for safety reasons.

“In hindsight, a good decision,” Monger says. “It was mentally hard doing a lot of long indoor rides, but I would roll out of bed, put my prosthetics on, and be on the bike in 10mins. When I could finally ride outdoors, I think I enjoyed it more.”

Running was only introduced in mid-January due to getting the right fit for his blades and adopting a circumducting gait to lower the impact on his body. The funds raised will again go to Comic Relief.

“I feel a connection to them as an organisation because I know the good they do,” Monger explains. “Taking on Ironman is a cool challenge, but it wouldn’t get the traction it does without Comic Relief behind it. Their challenges are normally self-contained and put people out of their comfort zone, but they don’t set the parameters at the Ironman World Championship. There are no guarantees. If I don’t make the cut-off times, this challenge finishes and we’ve failed. It’s outside their comfort zone as well.”

Blue-carpet inspiration

As most triathletes know, training is all about embedding routine, but investing the hours to work on building an aerobic base is not always compatible with a globetrotting presenting role. The most recent example is Monger’s successful Paralympics stint in Paris covering the breakfast shift for Channel4.

“I was up before 6am, but back at the hotel around 1:30pm, so it gave me afternoons and evenings to get some sessions in,” he says. “I reckon I got about 85% of my training done, including a lot of indoor rides and my longest training ride to date.”

The festival of sport in the French capital also 
included a dedicated Monday on the banks of the Seine 
at the paratriathlon, and some blue-carpet inspiration for being on the other side of the microphone in Los Angeles in four years.

“I was with [2021 Paralympic medallist] George Peasgood, picking his brain about all things triathlon,” Monger says. “The [sprint-distance] race being just over an hour appeals to me – shorter than my shortest training session at present – but obviously it’s a whole different style of training. Pure pain for an hour, while training for the Ironman is about keeping moving.”

Not that Monger isn’t picking up the pace. He explains how in a recent benchmark session he ran 21:20mins over 5km, an improvement of almost 10mins from when he started training with his running blades.

First the longer stuff and he heads to Ironman 70.3 Weymouth at the weekend to race, on coach’s orders, at Ironman intensity and to leave him with the feeling that “he could complete it again” [Monger would finish in 6:41:41]. The two half-iron distance races completed so far have already provided plenty of lessons.

“The Outlaw Half [in Nottingham] was more about finding out how triathlon events work,” he says. “Getting there the day before, the admin, setting up transition. It was the first time I’d run a half-marathon, and it gave me the confidence that I’m not completely out of my depth trying to take on something like this.”

Loose screws

Ironman 70.3 Westfriesland in the Netherlands came with more pressure. “Kona spots are hard to get and if I was to be given one, this was my opportunity to prove I had a chance of completing Hawaii. I didn’t want to leave any doubt.”

A stern test was made doubly difficult because just over halfway through the 90km bike leg, screws in his magnetic cleat came loose. Monger had to wedge his prosthetic into the pedal housing, but it meant that each pedal stroke would pull at the stump socket.

“The last 10km I was cycling one legged with the worry that the prosthetic would fall off!” he says. “We’ve changed it to make sure that can’t happen again.”

There has been more trial and error. Trying to train in the humidity of Japan during a two-week trip to cover Formula E and Formula 1 left him with a leg infection that meant no cycling or running for 10 days on his return and renewed vigour to make sure recovery time was built into the schedule.

“The skin on my stumps can break down,” he explains. “So how do we structure a week of training where we factor in that it might be hard to train the day after? There have been so many of those sort of moments along the way that I don’t think you can ever really prepare for something like this until you’re in it.”

As the training has intensified the realisation of 
what he’ll face has also dawned. “I had preconceived ideas of what I thought could be issues, but until we started living and breathing triathlon, we realised 
there are so many different things that need to come together to nail something like Kona. There’s stuff I hadn’t even thought about.”

If stump health was one, transitions were another. The cycling prosthetics – different on either side because one contains a knee joint – were designed to help deliver maximum power on the bike, but proved unsuitable to walk through transition.

Part of the solution was to use a knee unit from supplier Ossur that could be locked out with an Allen key once Monger has dismounted to make it more stable to walk on. He just has to remember to stash the Allen key in his cycling jersey.

Did he ever consider eschewing the use of prosthetics entirely and opting for a handcycle on the bike leg and a wheelchair for the run? Given the speed of both and nature of the course, it could also have knocked hours off his potential finish time. But that’s not Billy’s style.

“It would have been easier because it means all upper body where I’m not limited and don’t have to rely on prosthetics, but having done the first Comic Relief challenge on a conventional bike and made it work, it didn’t feel right to take an option that would be seen as being easier.

“If we face this challenge head on we might be able to learn from it, and show there are solutions out there if you put your mind to it.”

The dream scenario

The first goal is to finish in under the 17hr limit. Next is to break the existing record for a double amputee of 16:25hrs. Beyond that, sub-15hrs has a nice ring to it, but the team isn’t getting carried away.

“Kona is a different ballgame with the heat and humidity and wind on the bike, so a lot of our training numbers we take with a pinch of salt. If everything went perfectly and I perform out of my skin, could I break 15hr? That’s my dream scenario, but ultimately I just want to finish.

“As an amputee the main things that could go wrong is a broken prosthetic and all that work coming undone in a moment. I haven’t had running blades snap in training but I know other athletes who have, and I’ve not had a puncture in a race so far, but have been practising repairs. I’m trusting that things will work out, but being prepared if things go wrong.”

And how would it feel to run down Ali-i Drive and hear himself called across the line as an Ironman?

“I don’t know. I’ve seen spectacular videos of athletes getting to the finish, including some who can barely get to their feet, so we’ll see how I feel. It’s been a year of training, training and training and it just feels that swim, bike and run is just part of my life now.”

If you want to support Billy in his Kona quest, head to comicrelief.com/billydonate