"If you can’t beat them, outlast them!" 41 consecutive years in triathlon with Mark Kleanthous

Since we started the podcast, I've introduced many of the UK triathlon legends, ranging from our Olympic champions to coaches who helped them there, and the folks who were around right at the start of triathlon in the UK.

Today's guest, Mark Kleanthous, competed in UK triathlons since the very first event in June 1983. And he has kept on going for 41 consecutive years.

Completing an impressive 535 triathlons in more than 20 countries, including finishing the Hawaii Ironman World Championships, as well as 48 Iron distance, double Iron, and 1 x triple Iron triathlon.

Mark has also finished 71 marathons under 3 hours.

Over the last 41 triathlon seasons Mark has calculated that he's covered more than 12,000 miles swimming, 198,000 miles cycling, and has run more than 61,000 miles (totalling 271,000 miles) in training and racing. That's more than 11 times the distance around the world, or more than the distance to the moon! 

In this conversation we chat about:

• Keeping calm under stress, and problem solving
• How he still gets satisfaction from each event
• Why pacing gets better with age
• The secret to Mark’s athletic resilience and longevity
• Mark the Innovator - homemade elastic laces & aero water bottles 

To find out more about Mark K please visit the following channels:

Triathlon Coaching website 

Ironmate- Triathlon information website 

Instagram: openwaterswimcoaching & ironmate_coaching 

Twitter X: @ironmatemark 

Face Book Mark Kleanthous

LinkedIn Mark Kleanthous

 

Some videos you might be interested in watching:

Mark's highest elevation and coldest triathlon: Ironman Lake Tahoe 2013, bike had 9,000 feet of climbing

30 Years of Triathlon t-shirts. 

How to smash your ironman transitions. 

 

Research Papers

Mark took part in various studies during Ironman Sweden for ultra endurance athlete and scientist Beat Knechtle

 Changes in body composition in triathletes during an ironman event. 

 Nutrition & diets for endurance triathletes. 

The Age-Related Performance Decline in Ironman 70.3

 

Mark's 3 favourite books

Gold in the Water by P.H.Mullen. Two friends and swimmers who train to compete in the 2000 Olympic games. 

Training Essentials for Ultra Running by Jason Koop- Everyone from first timers to elite can benefit from this evidenced based book on going long.

Gold Rush Michael Johnson. His honest and open insight on how to be the best and beat the rest”.

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