The group’s name didn’t actually come about until some time later, when Candy, clearly a cultured man, called the rapidly growing Runner’s World group of Ironman wannabes the following year a Ship of Fools – and added ‘Pirate’ in deference to that original sticker.
Forumite and Channel swimmer Dr Nic pointed out the comedic possibilities of the acronym, and a legend was begun. When graphic designer RichardM, himself a forumite and sub-10 Ironman, produced the final artwork for the PSOF kit, even he couldn’t have known how prophetic were his words: ‘people will wonder who the f**k all these pirates are.’

… And The DayGlo Kit

The story of the kit is central to the story of the Pirates. The Jolly Roger sticker stuck, so to speak, and Candy’s original idea was batted around by a few of the central Pirate coterie, one of whom was, fortuitously, a designer.

The whole story – plus a handy list of the original Pirates – is worth reading for anyone who has a spare hour and/or needs a laugh.

What PSoF is…

…is a group of people that want something, work hard (despite popular misconception) and achieve it.

Cap’n Candy’s original argument – one that still causes raised eyebrows among ‘serious triathletes’ – was that non-cyclist, non-swimmers with a bit of running experience could train to do an Ironman in as little as nine months. And he was proved right.

At the last count there were more than 100 pirate Ironman finishers, of which more than 50 people did their first one in less than a year.

What it isn’t…

…is an affiliated club. The core Pirates – those that were in at the start and took part in the first outing to Ironman Switzerland in 2005 – believe that the whole ethos of the group can be summed up by the phrase “JFDI”(Just Flipping Do It).

As Candy says, “Rather than ‘JFDI if it’s properly proposed in a general meeting and then seconded by a member of the committee and then signed off in triplicate.’ It clearly doesn’t need to be ‘official’, as it’s always worked out amazingly well and gone from strength to strength as it is. If it aint broke, don’t fix it…”

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