A Geordie who completed the 'hardest triathlon on the planet' has spoken of his pride after completing the mammoth challenge.
Originally from Newcastle, Richard Stabler now lives in London working as a commercial director for Getty Images and is one of just 48 people worldwide who have completed the prestigious Enduroman Arch to Arc Triathlon which starts at Marble Arch, London and stops at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris.
The gruelling triathlon begins with an 87-mile undulating run (140 km) from London's Marble Arch to Dover on the Kent coast, then a cross-Channel swim to the French coast, and finishes with a 180-mile undulating (289.7 km) bike ride from Calais to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
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The Morpeth native ran 192km in total following an adverse change in the English channel weather during his first attempt having initially ran 52km and then the full 140km two days later on his ultimately successful attempt. He then finished the channel crossing swim before a triumphant ride up the Champs-Élysées- all in the space of just over three days.
His journey to completing such a remarkable feat began as a teenager in Newcastle after an unfortunate injury while he was on the cusp of joining the Royal Marines leading to a meeting with a masseur who suggested he considered taking up triathlons.
He explained: "I started triathlons in Newcastle. When I was 19 I was training to join the Royal Marines. I passed selection but got an injury.
"I went to a sports masseur in Whitley Bay and he was a triathlete and he was the first person who asked if I'd ever thought of trying it."
After his suggestion, Richard soon attended Elswick Pool which is where Tyne Triathlon Club swim and progressed quickly, doing his first triathlon in the space of a couple of years.
"I went down to the pool with Tyne Triathlon club and within a few weeks I realised how much I loved the sport and progressed quite quickly," he said. "I went out cycling and running with them.
"It's funny as my grandad, Arthur Stabler, was Lord Mayor of Newcastle and has a plaque in there with him on it so swimming next to that probably gave me more motivation.
"I did my first triathlon at 21 and within two years I did my first Iron Man in Switzerland. Subsequently I did another twelve Iron Man Triathlons, raced as an amateur at the World and European Championships. Most of my training was on long rides from across Northumberland."
With his training in the North East having stood him in good stead, Richard eventually set about attempting the notoriously tasking Norseman triathlon.
In 2017, he completed the triathlon which is widely regarded as the hardest Iron Man in the world and included jumping from a boat into a fjord in Norway to swim, cycle up a mountain and then run up a mountain.
The 42-year-old took 78 hours to complete the mammoth challenge which he admits, even after over two decades of competition, still represented a formidable undertaking.
The only thing left to do after that, however, was the biggest challenge of all- the fearsome Enduroman Arch to Arc.
"Iron Man is hard enough but Arch to Arc is another level really," Richard explained.
"Because of the channel swim, the tides and the weather are very unpredictable, so you're given a 24 our window and the weather has to be calm enough for you to do it.
"They look ahead and see what the conditions are like and tell you to start running. On the Monday I started running and did 52km and they actually stopped me and said 'the weather has changed you'll have to go back home'.
"Then two days later they said 'the weather is ok, you'll have to start your 140km run again- so I actually ended up doing 192km which is a lot harder than normal.
"That was hard mentally doing 52km, stop and go home and then two days later start again. By that point my legs were tired and psychologically there was the worry that you might be stopped again."
Eventually Richard was given the all-clear to undertake the swimming of the English channel, a task which proved as challenging as any he has faced in over two decades of partaking in endurance challenges.
He said: "The hardest element was the swim. It took me 17 hours and obviously you don't stop, you're swimming next to a boat. You're fed every forty minutes.
"It sounds strange but I was amazed by the strength of the tide and also the enormity of the distance. I ended up swimming 55km even though the channel crossing is around 35km because you have to swim across the tides.
"It's strange, because you are swimming next to the boat, you feel as though you are swimming in a straight line, you don't realise that you are swimming in a sort of 'S shape'. It was a surreal experience with like eight super tankers going past me and watching the sun move through the sky from 9am until it went dark."
During the triathlon, he was accompanied a support crew of two good friends, Chris Wilson and John Griffin, who he credits as integral to his eventual completion of the challenge.
Richard said: "On the run, one of them is driving a support vehicle, the other is changing my water. On the run I went through 65 potatoes, all I ate was potatoes!
"On the run I was more aware of what was happening and I was in the flow, focused on what I was doing but your mind does occasionally drift.
"You can imagine how hard their role was, with the whole thing taking me 72 hours. For them, they were spending that time in a car or a boat which is just really selfless. That was one of the most emotional things, seeing them give up their time to do that. They don't get any of the glory but I couldn't have done it without them.
"In the water, I was more in a zone- I didn't really think of much other than my body position in the water. I was focusing on my stroke and breathing. After the 192km of running my hip flexors and legs were quite sore so I was quite focused on trying to keep relaxed so that I didn't cramp or tighten up."
Richard admits a large motivation factor was the amount of sacrifice that he made for the fifteen months prior to the triathlon during which he was burning a quite staggering 30,000 calories a week in training.
"There was a huge amount of pressure as my life was geared totally around it after fifteen months of training," he added. "I trained twice a day and was burning 30,000 calories a week.
"I had to sacrifice a lot in terms of socialising and lifestyle choices. Had I been unsuccessful, I could have asked myself 'what was the point in that?'. It was about the journey of training but it was so satisfying to finish it as I'd made so many sacrifices."
He reveals that eventually getting over the finishing line following an 180-mile undulating (289.7 km) bike ride from Calais to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was emotional.
He said: "I didn't think I was going to be emotional, in fact on the morning of the swim I was quite jubilant and I enjoyed being on the bike. That said, as I turned the corner to go up the Champs-Élysées, I just burst into tears.
"I didn't intend to cry but it was the most incredible release. It was really strange, I'd never experienced anything like that before- I was wailing with tears sat in front of the Champs-Élysées.
"My dad had made his way to Paris from Newcastle and was at the top. It was a lovely surprise and I just embraced him."
In an endearing example of what can only be described as Northern understatement, his dad's first words to him were simply - 'you look tired!'.
Richard now reflects on the achievement as integral to his own personal development and feels that the experience has helped him to build resilience in his daily life.
"It's a bit surreal, on the one hand I know what I've achieved, on the other you just get back to normal life. I did have a couple of blue moments after the ride was over but I often think back to it.
"It's helped me a lot in my own personal development. It helps me in life situations, you think about it if you're feeling a bit gloomy. I think back to what I was able to achieve and it lifts my spirits.
"Sport's transformed my life. Physically it improves your body and mentally it gives you resilience. I've had some lovely messages from around the world and they said it's been inspiring for them. I don't have an ego but it's really nice to hear that."
With the world's hardest triathlon now under his belt, Richard now has his sights on helping other other people overcome difficulties in their lives through sport.
He has plans to help others who are looking to compete in next year's Arch to Arc by attending the training camp in Lanzarote to lend his advice and guidance.
"During the Arch to Arc triathlon I did think all the way back to first training in Newcastle all the way back to Morpeth Harriers. It helped to motivate me.
"When I was younger, I did suffer from anxiety and wasn't very confident. I didn't really believe in myself. Sport has helped me to gain self confidence and it's helped me overcome that anxiety.
"Through the Iron Man and eventually this, it's a natural evolution of giving myself goals and then achieving them so I think that's the motivation. It was driven by a lack of belief in myself and I now believe in myself a lot.
"I did a training camp in January which was in preparation for this event. For this, you have to be selected to do it and demonstrate you are capable of doing it with an endurance background.
"One of the aspects of the training is there is a training camp in Lanzarote and when I went there, I met people who had successfully completed it before so I'm going to go in late January to help others who are training. That's a massive motivation now."
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