Ross Sutherland head coach aims to do seven triathlons in seven days
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With rugby forced to stop throughout January, Ross Sutherland’s youth development officer John Mann has set himself a new challenge for 2021.
He is planning to run, swim and cycle his way through seven triathlons in seven days at the beginning of July, to raise money for both the rugby club and Alzheimer Scotland, with training already under way.
Part of the reason Mann was inspired to take on the challenge was seeing Leeds Rhinos’ legendary former captain Kevin Sinfield completing seven marathons in seven days, raising nearly £2.7 million in the process.
“I didn’t want to copy anyone plus I’d hate to run a marathon,” Mann said.
“I’m not a fan of running, swimming or cycling to be honest, so I made it something that’s really outside my comfort zone.
“It’s something different, and I can’t find anyone who’s ever done seven triathlons in seven days.
“So it would be quite cool to say that I’m the first to do it, and even just to complete it will be quite a cool challenge.
“If rugby starts up again in February, or even if we were training now, I would still do my rugby training on top of triathlon training.
“That’s the real challenge I’ll make of it, I’m not going to take time off work or anything, it’s going to be fit in around everything else.”
Mann intends on completing the triathlons from July 5 around Ross-shire and Sutherland, and he may even be joined in stages by some of his fellow Stags.
“One of them is going to be across the Cromarty Firth and around the Black Isle, and we’ll do one over in the Dornoch Firth,” he added.
“Some of the running is going to be running up Fyrish, there will be a mix of loch and sea swimming, I thought it would be a nice touch to try and spread it around the area.
“I’m hoping to get people to do each section of the race with me – I want it to be fun, not just doing the triathlon.”
