Peter Jackson: Richard Webster – Man of Iron with knobbled knees  

After nine operations, Richard Webster’s knees are so shot to bits that he cannot run five metres without seizing up.  The surgical repairs work out at roughly one op for every two matches the rugged Swansea flanker played for Wales and the Lions.  Any normal person would have put his feet up and waited for a new pair of knees.
Instead the 47-year-old self-employed builder has been recovering from a mighty triumph of mind over apparently insurmountable matter – running a marathon on a pair of crutches. His achievement, against all medical odds, fits perfectly into the identi-kit of one who describes himself as “a bit of a lunatic”.
The man they call “Webby” has always been as big on self-deprecation as he is on pushing himself to the extremes of physical and mental endurance. He is now, officially, an Iron Man having spent last Sunday from dawn to dusk flogging himself as never before.
He finished the grueling Ironman Wales event – a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and a full marathon – in 13 hours, 8 minutes, 55 seconds. His wife and inspiration, Julie, also went the distance, finishing in under 15 hours.
“I was lucky enough to play for Wales and the Lions but this beats the lot,” Webster said.  “I was a natural rugby player.   I didn’t have much skill.   I was just a bit of a lunatic, a natural pain in the ass.
“This was different. I dedicated myself for nine months to doing this and that was all because somebody said I could never do it. Over those nine months I went out in all kinds of weather and lost four stone in weight.
“I’ve never been the best disciplined of people.  If they put food in front of me, I’d eat it.  I didn’t have a flashing light to tell me I was full. So I’d keep eating and at one point I went up to 18 and a half stone.
“Running out for Wales and the Lions was great, as was playing in the European Cup final.  But I’d never felt before like I did last Sunday when I crossed the finishing line – absolutely brilliant.”
They rolled red carpet out along the Esplanade in Tenby at the end of the marathon and when Competitor No. 1174 in a field of almost 2,000 came home on his crutches, they announced over the tannoy: “Richard Webster – you are now officially an Iron Man.”
He had made it despite the pain from one eye caused by the freezing effect of too much salt water on the cornea and the battered knees. “The cartilage has all gone and raw bone on raw bone means you can’t run and I found that out three years ago,” he said. “Then Julie began doing triathlons and gradually I began to swim and cycle.
“I knew I couldn’t run but I thought there had to be a way round it.  One day I picked up the crutches at home and wondered: ‘Can I do something with these?’
“I devised a way of running on crutches as if I was skiing, taking the weight on my arms and shoulders and swinging my legs through about an inch off the ground.  I did a sprint triathlon and then the next day I wrote out a cheque for £400 and entered the Iron Man along with Julie.
“The hills make Tenby one of the toughest courses in the world.  The heat and the eye trouble made me feel faint but nothing was going to stop me.  Actually I did stop once in the marathon and that was to wait for Julie to give her a kiss and a cuddle.”
Now that he’s a true Man of Iron, Webster’s new knees will require a welder armed with oxyacetylene equipment rather than a surgeon.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on September 21.