As challenges go, it’s one of the toughest.

The Ultraman Triathlon Australia involves a 10km swim, 421km bike race and 84km run, each leg within 12 hours on three consecutive days.

Only the very best even contemplate taking part and this year they included a representative from the island, Nick Glover.

Though he lives in Singapore, the 41-year-old was raised in Port Erin and educated in the island, he left for work in 2009 and hopes to return soon.

He said he is the first Manx born person to complete an Ultraman Triathlon.

The challenge of doing the exhausting triathlon under a harsh Queensland sun was an added issue plus Nick is a type one diabetic (from the age of 14) who has battled testicular cancer twice (in 2005 and 2007). And he had a bike accident on the second day, crashing into a road sign at 40km/h, leaving him injured and in severe pain throughout the 84km run on daythree.

The extreme physical demands of doing a triathlon drew his interest.

He said: ’My inspiration for a triathlon was built from the desire to do things that were just hard and see if I could finish. That then grew and I had completed my first full ironman (Western Australia) within eight months of my first triathlon ... For the next two years I kept on plugging away at Ironman 70.3 races.’

He added: ’Ironman can become consuming and actually create more unhealthy traits than healthy in one’s life if you let it. I realised I had stopped enjoying the process and become consumed by winning (which usually means many failures) which led me to step back and say this is silly, how can we bring this back to "why you started" and give you that sense of fulfilment and enjoyment rather than pressure to compete against yourself and anyone else who enters your space.’

Training was ’super enjoyable’ he said. A typical week (while working as general manager of an international financial advisory business) would involve 400km of cycling, 50km of running and 10km of swimming. Training in Singapore also means working out in 30C with anything from 70% to 100% humidity.

His reflections on his achievement are ’a little mixed’. He said: ’On one hand I finished something that was extraordinarily hard to finish and only circa 300 people make it to the start line each year across the world so I am so overjoyed with that achievement. The memory that was created from this event and the people I met along the way have been something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

’On the other hand, in the crash on my bike early on day two, I broke my front wheel and my body was hurt but we carried on and finished the 215km that were left. This obviously meant a tough day three 84km run. This has kind of left me asking how much better could I have done? I will most certainly go back and try again. But it’s safe to say, my inspiration for this one isn’t just about going faster, the event just has this aura around it where the people are inviting and everyone is family.’