Fitness has become an addiction for Ian Dempsey

In 2010 the Aldridge native was in his late 20s and was the stereotypical boozer. He enjoyed going out with his friends, drinking excessively, smoking 30 cigarettes a day and eating whatever he fancied.

He used to be a swimmer as a child and has an athletic background, but he was stuck in the rut of his lifestyle and routine – which made it all the more surprising to see him enter a 10k race.

"It was a bit of a laugh when I entered with my mates and I think people saw me as the joke, they thought I'd get smashed," Dempsey said.

"I bought some rubbish trainers and did six-months of training, running twice a week, just to get around this 10k in Aldridge.

"I ended up catching up to my mates and ran a 39-minute 10k, which back then everyone was amazed. They thought I was the fat smoker and drinker. What I had as a kid hadn't completely left me, although I'd done my best to destroy it.

"I was turning the corner then but still smoking. I met a couple of guys who ran for Aldridge and I joined them and entered some events."

Dempsey went on to run the Wolverhampton half-marathon shortly after but did it on three hours sleep after going out the night before and drinking until 4am.

He added: "I needed to stop all that stupidness. That was another point where I realised I could kick those habits.

"My personality is that I'm very addictive. My old social groups were very additive and the athletes I hang around with now are also very addictive – it's just how you focus those addictions."

From there, a friend asked him to help him train in swimming for a triathlon he was doing in Marbella.

That friend ended up offering Dempsey a bike to borrow to allow him to come take part too, in a moment that shaped the next decade of his life.

"I knew nothing about it or the distance and it ended up being a 1,900 metre swim, 56-mile bike and a half-marathon run. I'd never done anything like that in my life. It was a middle distance race and I completed it in six hours.

"I was hooked from then onwards, that was where it all started."

More than 10 years later and Dempsey, now 39-years-old and a dad of three, is a professional triathlete and triathlon coach.

His personal best for a middle distance triathlon has been cut by more than two hours, to three hours and 52 minutes, and he is in the shape of his life.

He said: "I often try and think hard to remember what I used to be like. I wasn't a joker smoker, I smoked from the first thing in the morning until the last thing at night. I used to get through 20 or 30 a day.

"I drank a lot at the weekend and did a lot of things I shouldn't have done, which I'm not proud of.

"My diet was terrible. I didn't even think of myself as overweight but I was. My wife didn't know me as that person and she definitely wouldn't have married that guy.

"He was like a completely different person to what I am now. I can't imagine where I would be now if I carried on down that path.

"My approach to life is different. I was a bit lost and didn't have any focus or direction.

"My jobs were fleeting from one to another and I had no focus on what I wanted to do or achieve. There was no plan.

"I'd get up late, go to bed late and not think about drinking water or what the right foods are. It was a happy-go-lucky approach to life. My life is extremely different now."

From one extreme to another, Dempsey is now striving to reach the elite level of his sport – but that has not come without it's own struggles.

He turned professional just over a year ago and shortly after was diagnosed with skin cancer on his forehead.

It needed treatment within three months so after completing an event in Bahrain first he had the operation on the day he landed back in the UK.

After returning to training, and desperate to push his limits quickly, Dempsey slipped on some ice and shattered his collar bone and then later had a labral tear in his hip – with all three of these health issues coming within six months.

Despite that, he is determined to come back and fighting and not let his age be a barrier to breaking into the upper echelons of the sport.

"I'm 40 in July and I have some really good domestic racing coming up in the coming months," he added.

"I'm doing the Outlaw race in Nottingham and I really want to break the course record there. I am a lot older than the guy who currently holds it.

"It's nice to show that age shouldn't be a barrier. If someone is thinking about changing their habits then age is just a number. You can change for good at any point.

"I might have to be a bit more clever with the way I train and recover, that younger guys don't think about as much, but I don't look at it as a negative.

"I have three kids and I want them to grow up with this mentality. You can achieve anything if you work hard for it."

Dempsey is also an ambassador for the Be Better campaign by Birmingham-based fitness company Freetrain.

The company, set up in 2015, has grown significantly in recent years and is most known for their phone-holder training vest.

Dempsey has worked with Freetrain since they were founded and enjoys developing alongside a local business.

He said: "I used to run with music and an arm strap and it was always annoying. The Freetrain is a great idea.

"The benefits of it are brilliant. From the first day I ran with it I've been it's biggest advocate.

"A lot of companies approach athletes but this is genuinely a product that I use. It's very handy for training.

"The product has developed over the years and I've seen it evolve. It's nice we've been on this journey together. They've always supported me."

Freetrain’s vests provide a streamlined and balanced way to take your small essentials with you whilst you exercise. freetrain.co.uk