Acomb athlete Pete Mathieson has ended a ten-year bid to qualify for the prestigious Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championship.

And the White Rose Triathlon Club secretary and coach realised his decade-long dream by just seven seconds.

That was the time that separated Mathieson and the fourth-placed 45-49 age group competitor at the last qualifying event for October's famous endurance race.

He can now finally book his place on a plane to Hawaii after an excellent performance at the Half-Ironman UK Championship in Sherbourne.

There was only one qualifying spot up for grabs at the Dorset event for Mathieson's age group but as the first two competitors had already secured their places, the York man was left celebrating by the narrowest of margins.

He said: "I finished seven seconds ahead of the guy in fourth and passed him with less than half a mile to go. It was quite emotional to qualify after all this time.

"I've been doing triathlons since 1985. I did my first Ironman event in 1990 and have been chasing an elusive slot for Hawaii since 1994 all over Europe and South Africa, so it's the end of a ten-year wait.

"It was also my last chance to qualify for this year's race which will be on October 16."

Mathieson crossed the line at Sherbourne in four hours, 52 minutes and 22 seconds after completing a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile cycle and a 13.1-mile (half-marathon) run.

All the distances will be doubled in Hawaii, meaning competitors will run a full marathon on the third and final leg, but Mathieson has contested seven full Ironman competitions before with a personal best time of 11 hours and 19 minutes at an event in South Africa.

He is also confident that he will be capable of coping with the heat and humidity in a race which is regarded as one of the world's toughest endurance tests.

Mathieson said: "I am hoping for a time of around 11-and-a-half hours. I don't know what the likelihood of me getting a medal is because there are guys who were faster than me in qualifying.

"But it all depends on how people go in the heat and I'm generally okay with it and I've also been preparing well.

"I did an Ironman in France in June and have kept up the training I did for that in the hope that I might make Hawaii."

Mathieson will not be the York-based White Rose club's only representative on the American island with Dunnington's Dot Wagstaff also qualifying after last year's Sherbourne heat.

They will be joined in Hawaii by a number of family, friends and club members.

Knaresborough Racing Team cyclists and Acomb Running Club athletes will also be sending their best wishes to fellow member Mathieson.

The civil servant, who works at the Leconfield Defence School of Transport, runs White Rose's swimming sessions with his brother Paul - another triathlete - and coaches running and cycling on Thursday nights.

His biggest previous achievement was representing Great Britain in the 1998 World Long Course Triathlon Championship, over three-quarter Ironman distances, finishing eighth at Nice in France.

Updated: 11:01 Friday, August 27, 2004