Sean Conway is attempting to complete 102 consecutive Iron distance triathlons and break the world record. And Triathlon Cymru's Participation Officer, Gwyndaf Lewis, joined him for day 66!
Photography credit - Justin Fletcher Photography
The day started at 4:45am with Sean arriving in his pjs before a 5am start. Sean achieved a PB on the swim - we're not sure if he was showing off to Triathlon Cymru but he flew through the 2.4 mile swim with ease! This might bite him a little bit tomorrow but a great start to the day.
There's a community feel as he gets out of t1 on to his bike. Sean's greated by fellow athletes who want to wish him well and join him on the 112 mile bike. Day 66's fellow athletes included our Participation Officer, Gwyndaf Lewis, who rode with Sean for 56 miles.
"My guilty pleasure is to join Sean on the ride on my days off", says Simon who has joined Sean 15 times in total.
Tim is on day 6 with Sean and is "doing it as he is a local guy and the challenge is on his doorstep - it would be silly not to".
The bike loop starts at Mold Leisure Centre each day, before embarking on a 180km bike where he'll go to Holt, proceed to complete a 30 minute loop and back through Holt before heading on to a longer loop which he loops 3 times and then a 42.2km run in the local area.
In terms of stops, Sean doesn't stop for long, something quick to eat, top of the water and away he goes.
When asked why he was doing it, Sean said he "saw the challenge that James Lawrence did of 50 ironmans in consecutive days then the 101 days - it was something I had on my mind and was going to try and do one day anyway."
Sean also broke the speed record for cycling across Europe – all 3,890 miles of it – entirely unsupported. That's when he thought - what next?
"It's a great way to raise money for The True Venture Foundation - a foundation that exists to inspire and support children and young athletes by improving access to positive opportunities through sport so they can connect with and reach their potential. We want to keep kids in sport, since covid, there's 66,000 less kids doing sport oustide of school and the percentage is 39% of kids outside of school do sports and we want to change that!"
Founding partner of The True Venture Foundation Ryan Morrison said "we believe that all children and young athletes should be given an equal opportunity to enter and succeed in sport."
He said Sean is an "inspiration" to young people and is "showing them anything is possible".
He also expressed how Sean would like to support the True Venture Foundation, taking on a True Venture ambassador role, by going into local schools and talking to the children about triathlon and endurance etc.
Talking about Iron 102, Sean says obviously it's been really hard but most days have been pretty good!
"I've got into a rhythm now, momentum has built on my social media. More people joined me for the swim, cycle and run which gave me a real boost - there's a community feel to it."
"There's 9 pillars to endurance and sleeping is the main one. Some tell me I go too fast, but when I finish between 13-14 hours, I get my 8 hours of sleep in!"
He talks about his amazing support team and how he couldn't do it without them. As well as how grateful he is for everyone who has come out and joined him for part of the challenge. Some people take days off and even complete personal milestones such as completing their first marathon. He says that he has met people who he will probably continue to cycle and run with, friends for life.
For more information, and to see his live tracker, head over to Sean’s website.
https://www.seanconway.com/iron102.html
Photography credit - Justin Fletcher Photography
