The 500 Man Triathlon

There are no guarantees in life, you learn, prepare, then do your best to execute; but as my Aunt used to say “sometimes sh*t happens!”

I first came up with this idea for the 500 Man triathlon at the end of 2015, but it wasn’t until October 2017 that I decided the summer of 2018 would be when I take on this non-stop monster triathlon.

My training increased throughout 2018, and in the months leading up to this communal challenge, I was super excited to share it with others, and enjoy a weekend of swimming, cycling, and running alongside my community.
The distance didn’t scare me, I had completed a similar distance triathlon a few years ago, named The Double Brutal Extreme Triathlon in the mountains of north Wales, although I had plenty of respect for what was coming, I wasn’t too concerned with the distance as I had trained well.

My training was on track, confidence high, and I was mentally eager to begin!

The 500 Man triathlon consisted of the following.

– 10 kilometre swim around Shepperton Lake.
– 390 kilometre cycle around a pre determined looped course from Richmond Park to Windsor.
– 100 kilometre run along the river Thames, then loops around Richmond Park.

I had prepared as best as I could, pulled together a crew to help facilitate this journey, and engaged with my community to come and join in the fun of this challenge.
Alongside wanting to create an adventure where people could join me when they liked, I was raising money for the 401 Foundation.

I had two concerns going into the weekend; firstly, if my shoulder would hold up to the 10km swim.
Since my 24km crossing of the Gibraltar Straight during The Ultimate Triathlon, I have had two shoulder surgeries, and I nursed my shoulder throughout training to make sure I didn’t do anything detrimental to it before I even started.
My second concern was the weather, as there was a heat wave hitting the UK during the weekend I was taking on the 500 Man. I couldn’t do anything about the weather, only prepare as best as I could, but I was concerned with the rising temperature, and it hitting extreme highs during the day I would be swimming, and then cycling.

Saying that, I felt ready!