A Cumbrian sports nutrition company has joined forces with the world’s toughest extreme triathlon which will be staged this summer at Windermere.
Keswick-based MountainFuel is the latest partner of Triathlon X which will see hundreds of elite athletes from across the world heading for race HQ at YHA Ambleside at Waterhead.
MountainFuel is a Multi Sport System that is nutritionally balanced to ensure the body is fuelled for maximum performance. Rupert Bonington, co-owner and son of the mountaineer Chris Bonington who is Vice-President of the YHA, says its products have been successfully used in some of the world’s most extreme environments.
They will be providing nutrition advice for athletes in the build up to the event, and at race HQ, and providing samples of their products for the competitors.
They join other leading sponsors of The X, Lakeland UK and Heart of the Lakes (who are each providing £1000 prize money for the first man and first woman); BlueSeventy, the world’s leading wetsuit company who are offering vouchers for the veteran category winners; and Hawkshead Relish who are providing hampers for the winning teams. Kendal Mint Cake makers Romney of Kendal are also providing goods for the athletes.
The X is supported by YHA England and Wales, and a percentage of each entry fee is going to the YHA’s bursary fund, Breaks for Kids, which provides adventure holidays for disadvantaged children.
Race director Mark Blackburn said: “We are delighted to have a local company join us to provide nutrition advice and products for our swimmers, cyclists and runners. Mountain Fuel is an ideal partner.
“They were the first company to exclusively specialise in the formulation and development of nutritionally balanced supplements targeted at individuals and teams involved in extreme and endurance sport. In collaboration with nutritional consultants, they created a range of products for people who subject themselves to conditions way beyond the physical and psychological demands of many other sports. That describes our triathletes exactly.”
Rupert Bonington said: “We are really pleased to be working with Triathlon X. This is our home territory, and the Lake District provides some of the best adventure sport in the whole world. Whatever your sport or activity, Mountain Fuel powers you to achieve your goals.
“Our nutritionally loaded supplements, which were under nearly two years of intensive research and field trials, have been tested in every condition conceivable. We teamed up with some amazing individuals and teams from the UK, including the inspirational North and South Pole ‘Walking with the Wounded’ teams along with their patron HRH Prince Harry, and Adam Harmer who kayaked 1000 miles to win the Yukon 1000.”
The X will be staged at Windermere on June 25. The event will have steeper ascents than any “ironman” triathlon anywhere in the world. Competitors will swim twice round Seamew Crag island in Windermere, and then cycle all the Lake District passes on the route of the Fred Whitton challenge, some 112 miles. The marathon run of 26 miles will take the athletes out and back to the top of Scafell Pike via Elterwater and Great Langdale.
The total ascent on the cycle and run routes is 5150m, the highest in the world, with a projected winning time of four hours longer than Norway’s Norseman extreme race.
One local athlete, fitness instructor Ursula Brendling, from Ambleside, has decided to tackle the X as her very first triathlon, to mark her 50th birthday next summer. She is being sponsored to raise more money for Breaks for Kids.
Richard Greenwood, Cumbria Tourism’s head of operations, said: “As the UK’s Adventure Capital the Lake District, Cumbria has an adrenaline fuelled calendar of outdoor challenge events every year and this event is no exception. There are plenty of events for the first time competitor, and others for more experienced athletes that require total endurance and dedication.
“Hosting TriathlonX on Windermere will allow even more people to access this high level event and allow them to come and embrace their adventurous side here in the Lake District.”
There are still a few places left for The X; entries at www.triathlonx.co.uk The organisers are also staging the half-ironman triathlon at Windermere this year on Sunday September 25.
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