Fusion Triathlon Club from Glasgow took on the challenge of travelling around the world under their own power whilst at home.
As a challenge to their members, the club challenged themselves to complete the distance by swimming, cycling, running, walking or scooting their way from city-to-city across the globe, clocking up over 41,000km in the month of June.
Joanne Byrne, committee member at the club, said: “The challenge was a way of motivating people to keep engaged as a community and keep fit whilst at home.
“It initially started as a ‘how far can we get in June’ challenge, then, as people started sending in their distances, I totalled up the distances and mapped out how far around the world we were travelling each week to give us something to aim for.
“With us not being able to run group club sessions, this challenge helped bring people together. Whilst under lockdown we’ve been organising home sessions over Zoom, and this was just another way for us to stay in touch with one another even when we can’t meet physically.”
Restrictions in Scotland meant that club gatherings weren’t possible, with this club challenge a way for the members to join together to complete the challenge whilst not physically meeting.
“We had members cycling and running in their local area,” added Byrne. “A few swimming in pop-up pools in their gardens or in open water, and some of the younger kids scooting rather than cycling, as well as some who couldn’t run due to injury walking to help us complete the distance.
“We had junior and senior members taking part, as well as some of our new members from our ‘Couch to Triathlon’ programme that helped introduce new people to the sport, so it was great to involve them in club life.”
Community was one of the main drivers behind the challenge, with the trip around the world helping to keep members connected and working together to achieve the distance.
In the first week of June, the club made their way from Glasgow to Jabalpur in India, whilst week two saw them travel south to Cairns, Australia. A journey through the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii in week three had them returning to the Northern Hemisphere, before travelling across North America and the Atlantic Ocean to Glasgow by the end of the month.
With a total distance of 41, 764.32km, they even managed a quick return trip to Luxembourg as well.
“It wasn’t a competition with people competing against one another to go the furthest, as it was all about the collective total,” explained Byrne. “Whether it was 10km or 100km, a swim or a cycle, it all contributed to connecting everyone and getting us around the world as a club."
