Man's 38-hour triathlon confirmed as world record

A dad's triathlon where he ran, swam and cycled the equivalent distance of 516km (321 miles) in just over 38 hours has been confirmed as a Guinness World Record.

Tony Hopkin, from Brackley in Northamptonshire, ran 100 one-kilometre laps (62 miles) of the town's St James Lake, swam nearly 16km (10 miles) at Pitsford Reservoir and cycled just over 400km (249 miles).

His effort has raised more than £6,100 for a local education charity that has helped his autistic son.

"The triathlon was going OK until 50km into the run – then my feet became one very large blister. I don't know how I carried on. I think I blocked it out," he said.

Mr Hopkin was tracked by GPS watches and bike computers, and filmed at every point while timekeepers logged his activities and "independent witnesses" observed the whole thing.

According to the official world record listing his distance for "longest single-event triathlon (male)" was 515.91km, breaking the previous record of 407.4km.

He is still receiving donations for his effort which will go to Northampton-based New Leaf Learning, which supports one of his children.

"They help children with special educational needs who have experienced trauma to engage in education," he said.

Mr Hopkin said the charity helped his son, who is autistic and had struggled with mainstream education.

"His school has a relationship with New Leaf Learning, and he was fortunate enough to go there for six weeks where he learnt nature-based coping mechanisms to build teamwork and help him cope with stress," said Mr Hopkin.

The record holder said he may attempt another triathlon of a similar distance, but he "wouldn't do that one again; I might do a different route though".

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