Radio 1’s Greg James finishes five triathlon challenge for Sport Relief

Radio 1's Greg James has completed five triathlons in five days for Sport Relief, reports the BBC. The DJ ran, swam and cycled through Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow and Sheffield before finishing his challenge in his home city of Norwich.

In total, the challenge saw him swim 3.6 miles, cycle 196.7 miles and run 46 miles while still finding time to do his radio show each afternoon.

Speaking before his challenge, he had said: “Training has been tough, wet and so horribly cold but I'm determined to accomplish this so that Sport Relief will be able to direct some much needed money to support people who really need it.”

At the time of writing, he had raised over £800,000.

5 triathlons. 5 cities. 5 days. DONE. Current total..£816,808! INSANE. @sportrelief will do amazing things with this pic.twitter.com/zG5LyaGYJT

— Greg James (@gregjames) February 12, 2016

If you’d like to do so, you can contribute over at his sponsorship page.

Needless to say, it wasn’t all plain sailing/swimming/cycling/running. The cycling leg of his Sheffield triathlon got off to an ignominious start when one of the city’s hills momentarily got the better of him.

Tough hills - @gregjames lost momentum but he's back on the bike & carrying on #Gregathlon https://t.co/EMlnE0HRQJ pic.twitter.com/5bT4MDeYSB

— Sport Relief (@sportrelief) February 11, 2016

He told The Star: “I was going up one of the hills in the city and my brain was going ‘come on then, get those legs up’ and my calves went ‘no mate, not going to happen’ and they stopped working.”

He described the terrain as “devastatingly hard,” and added: “You’ve got to trudge your way up, but the view is beautiful up there.”

James also suffered a puncture seven miles into the Belfast ride, at which he remarked: "If the road punctured my tyre, imagine what it's doing to my groin."

Speaking after completing the challenge, he said: “It’s been the hardest week ever, but one of the best weeks of my life.” He told the Eastern Daily Press that after only sleeping for four or five hours a night, he was now planning on getting a good 12 hours in. “I can’t imagine he’ll be up later than 10pm tonight.”