Over 1,000 young sporting stars have been showing their mettle in this afternoon’s sell-out Ironkids event in Tenby.

The curtain-raiser to tomorrow’s Ironman Wales saw large and enthusiastic crowds in the town centre cheering on the youngsters, aged from three to 14, running in age-group categories.

There was some keen unofficial competition between many of the runners, but in the spirit of Ironkids, everyone was a winner and they all enjoyed a red-carpet run down The Esplanade and across the finishing line under the iconic Ironman arch.

Presenting the Ironkids medals were a trio of Welsh rugby legends - Shane Williams, Ryan Jones and Ian Gough - together with the mayor of Tenby, Councillor Laurence Blackhall.

Commenting on the success of the day he said: “This is a fabulous way to start off the weekend and it also symbolises what Ironman is all about - encouraging all these young people into the world of sport and to leading a healthy lifestyle.

“Many of the children are also going to be here tomorrow and hopefully they are going to aspire to that in the future. It’s been a fantastic start to the weekend and the town is absolutely buzzing.”

The rugby trio are amongst the 2,000 athletes entered for tomorrow’s Ironman Wales, which is back in Tenby for the sixth successive year.

The organisers have already confirmed it will be returning to Tenby in 2017 and negotiations are underway to secure the event until 2021.

Ironman Wales gets underway at 7.10am tomorrow (Sunday) with a 2.4 mile swim off Tenby’s North Beach, a 112-mile bike ride around south Pembrokeshire followed by a 26.2 mile marathon run on a four-loop course in and around Tenby.

See www.ironmanwales.com for a spectator guide outlining key vantage points and route access.

The Western Telegraph will be running a live blog throughout Sunday to keep up with the latest Ironman news.