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It is hard to imagine the year Leigh Chivers has been through.
In the space of 12 months, he went from being a happily married father of two young sons to a single dad of one.
His wife Sara and baby son Alfie were both diagnosed with different types of brain cancer six months apart.
Just before Christmas, Sara went into palliative care and in January she lost her battle.
Five months later, baby Alfie died.
"I just hit a wall where I couldn't see a future any more," Leigh told 7.30.
"I couldn't look beyond a week, I think it was just too scary, I just couldn't."
'She would have been very proud and very emotional'
Sara and Leigh Chivers met through their shared love of sport and completed triathlons together before Sara got sick.
As she was dying, Leigh made a promise to Sara.
"She encouraged me to get on with life and do the things that I enjoy," he told 7.30.
"And one of those things was, she said she wanted me to do the Hawaiian Ironman, you know, for myself but also for her."
Leigh failed to qualify this year but when the event's organisers heard his story, he was offered an honorary position.
After an unimaginably difficult year, Leigh took on one more huge challenge.
"I think Sara would have cried for most of the day, she would have loved it," he said.
"She would know what it means to me to be able to do that and for Hugh to have seen his dad do that, she would have been very proud and very emotional."
'I've told Sara and Alfie's story to a wider audience'
Ironman triathlons consist of a 3.8-kilometre swim, a 180km bike ride and a full 42km marathon.
Even by those standards, the event in Kona is notoriously gruelling due to the heat and landscape.
Leigh said it lived up to its formidable reputation.
"I actually lost three toenails," he said.
"I didn't really notice that I was losing them throughout the run, my foot was slipping around because my shoes were so wet and I hadn't done my shoelaces up tight enough."
"You're in a little bit of another world by that stage on the run, so certainly that was physically one of the toughest things I've ever done."
Leigh said he felt like Sara and Alfie were there with him and he's vowed to keep fighting for more brain cancer research.
"I definitely feel satisfied that I've at least gone there and told Sara and Alfie's story to a wider audience," he said.
"I know that I would've done them proud, that they would have enjoyed watching from wherever they were."
Topics: health, diseases-and-disorders, sport, triathlon, australia, vic, hawaii