For these triathletes, a European vacation includes Denmark Ironman
It's not everyone's idea of R&R.
For a dozen Newfoundland triathletes, the only lounging by the pool will be an awfully long open water swim, sightseeing will be mixed with cycling and the meals made in preparation of running a marathon.
"It's a 3.8-kilometre swim, a 180-kilometre bike followed by a marathon [42.2 kilometres]," said St. John's triathlete Dean Hammond.
Hammond has been training up to 18 hours a week since November to prepare for the Copenhagen Ironman. He's hoping to improve on this 2015 Mont-Tremblant Ironman time of 14 hours and 20 minutes.
The 226-kilometre distance race will push his body to the limit; and he's doing it for fun.
"You always hear people say they can't do this or they can't do that," he said.
"I think it's more of a want to do something then you can do something. If you want to try it I think anybody can do this for sure."
Another racer sharing his passion is Steph Nevin. The physiotherapist by day fits in her training sessions whenever she can.
"Before work, sometimes during work on lunch breaks, after work," said Nevin.
"Sometimes we will be going until nine or 10 o'clock at night and going straight to bed afterwards."
Nevin and Hammond recently took part in the St. John's Triathlon, finishing 10th and eighth overall, respectively. Nevin was the top female finisher.
"You start with a 5K running race and you feel great when you finish it," said Nevin.
"The sense of accomplishment is unreal and you just keep wanting to do more and more. This is kind of one of the top races you can do in terms of distance."
It's Nevin's first Ironman and the second for Hammond. And with more than 3,000 racers taking part, there should be a few familiar faces.
"It's huge having the support on the course," Nevin said.
"The race itself is full of laps so we will see each other passing by in opposite directions and it will just give you a big boost in the middle of the race"
The race starts around 2:30 am, NT, on Sunday.
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