UK lecturer trains newbies for long-distance triathlon

Dr Justin Roberts has recruited 80 participants for Challenge Barcelona-Maresme

Published: August 8, 2013 at 4:31 pm

A lecturer from the University of Hertfordshire has set out to find 80 people of average fitness willing to take part in the Challenge Barcelona-Maresme long-distance triathlon this October, and pledged that all will complete the race unscathed.

Dr Justin Roberts, a senior lecturer and researcher who specialises in performance nutrition and physiology, hopes to measure how structured exercise can improve individual performance in feats of extreme endurance.

Dr Roberts has received hundreds of applications from around the world, and is careful to acknowledge the risks involved, but is confident that all study participants will finish the race safely.

“I think there will be at least 10 people who will have a long, hard and challenging day," he said. "But the medical teams are brilliant, and if something does go wrong they will be aware very quickly,”

The Barcelona event (http://www.challenge-barcelona.es) will take place on October 6th and involves a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and then a 26-mile run.

Via Times Higher Education