Michael Eliades would appear to be a man on a mission.

Over the past three years or so he has taken part in 24 full-on, tough events – certainly none of them are for the faint-hearted – and he wants to do more and more.

The 35-year-old has recently completed the Ironman 70.3 Weymouth and even though he described it as the toughest challenge he has taken on he has plans at some stage to do an Ironman Triathlon which consists of 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run.

Readers with an eye for figures will spot that that is twice the distance that Eliades covered in Weymouth and he admits that with work and family “it will be difficult”.

The Ironman in Weymouth was the second Ironman that he has completed having taken part in the South Cerney Classic Triathlon in June.

It’s a remarkable achievement when you consider that Eliades, who lives in Gloucester and works at his dad’s barber’s in Cheltenham, took part in his first race of any kind only in 2015 when he ran the Cheltenham Half Marathon.

And he did pretty well in that event as well.

“We’d get customers coming into the shop and they said I wouldn’t finish under two hours,” Eliades recalled. “I said I would but they said ‘no chance’.

“I was 15-and-a-half stone at the time but I did a bit of training and finished in one hour, 50. It was my first ever half and I got a real buzz from it.”

And that was how it all started.

“I used to do a lot of weightlifting,” he said. “I did all the bodybuilding, the powerlifting. A few of the lads at the gym did triathlon, they’d seen me swim and said, ‘You’re a good swimmer, why don’t you do a triathlon?’”

So he did, although his first one – the Cheltenham Triathlon – didn’t go exactly as planned.

“The swimming wasn’t so good,” he admitted, “I had a panic attack, I nearly drowned! I just needed to get out of the water ASAP, I went off too fast.”

But Eliades dug deep – “I really enjoyed the bike and running,” he said – and vowed there and then to improve his swimming.

“I had three one-on-one sessions with coach Andy Gardner,” added Eliades. “Swimming was my weakest discipline, now it’s my strongest with my biking.

“Running is my weakest, I’m working on it but I can run.”

It’s apparent that Eliades is very determined and he showed that when completing the Ironman in Weymouth in very tough weather conditions even though he had injured both his hips.

“That was mental strength,” he said. “Knowing that you can do it even though you are injured, that was just amazing.”

Eliades has had to show huge fortitude in his personal life too. His brother George died in a car accident on Leckhampton Hill nine years ago and Eliades admits it took him a long time to get over his brother’s death.

“I was a drinking a lot,” he said. “I was grieving and I went through a bad time but I eventually realised I couldn’t keep doing this, it wasn’t fair on my family.”

And the rest as they say is history.

Next year he’s already signed up for the Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire in June and the Cardiff Triathlon Olympic distance two weeks later.

That’s pretty tough but surely well within his capability when you consider over the past three years that’s he’s completed two Ironmans, completed a duathlon, run five half marathons, completed sprint and Olympic distance triathlons and a number of cross-country runs, including the May Hill Massacre.

He’s had plenty of support along the way of course – his good friends Lee Bell and Robin Hefter introduced him to triathlons and he has recently joined Tri Team Glos after being encouraged to do so by another good friend Daryl Stroud.

And his family have been big supporters too. His girlfriend Dawn, stepdaughter Chloe, dad Jim, mum Mary, sister Elena, brother-in-law Jacob, and nephew Dominic were all there to cheer him on in Weymouth in September.

And Eliades has given plenty back too. “I raised £1,000 for the St John Care Trust for the old people’s home in Brockworth when I competed in South Cerney,” he said with understandable pride.

“Every year I do something for them. Last year I helped raise money for a minibus when I took part in the London Triathlon.”