A Belgian man has completed a gruelling personal challenge for charity during a recent trip to the Isle of Man.

Sebastien Bar, 40, started with a swim across Gansey Bay, then it was up to the Grandstand and onto a bike to begin his 37.73 mile cycle around the Isle of Man TT course. Having completed that it was back down south to run around the 4.25 mile Southern 100 course.

Sebastien has been a regular visitor to the Isle of Man since coming here more than 10 years ago to take part in the Easter Festival of Running.

He said: ‘I’ve done a lot of track in the past, middle distance and then long distance. I also did also a bit of triathlon and on my first visit to the Isle of Man, I ran the three legs of the Easter Festival: Port St Mary to Port Erin, the run up Peel Hill and the Douglas promenade 5k.’

As well as being an accomplished runner he also has a keen interest in motorsport and, in particular, a passion for sidecars racing.

Sebastien said: ‘I used to passenger in classic sidecars. I did the Belgian championship, the Scottish championship and the European championship, on both road racing in Belgium and short circuit in the UK, France, Netherlands and Germany.

‘I raced with Dick Oast and Colin Lewis and the last two were with Eddie Wright and Bob Dawson who is still racing in modern sidecars and in the TT.’

He met his partner on a visit to the island in 2019 to watch the TT and the pair were married here two years ago. They now live in Belgium, where Seb is a lecturer at a university college training teachers.

He chose the Manx charity Isle Listen to benefit from his triathlon and he explained why: ‘Mental health is a crucial issue in our society, for young people, adults and the elderly alike. It is a cause that is particularly close to my heart as you and I all know someone who has struggled, sometimes in silence, with mental health problems.

‘As a teacher trainer, the support that Isle Listen provides to the Manx community is particularly important to me.’

He said that the hardest part of the challenge was the cycle was the steep climb Ramsey Parliament Square up to Michael Dunlop’s corner on what was a very hot day.

He also described the feeling of completing his challenge. He said: ‘It felt really good. To have achieved it in one day and to have finished the three legs. In the last leg my partner and Stephen Downward from Isle Listen were running with me, which meant that then I was able to enjoy having people around me and chatting which was making it easier.’

Sebastien has so far raised more than £600 for Isle Listen and his Just Giving page is still open for donations at https://www.justgiving.com/page/sebastien-bar-triathlon