Essex filmmaker completes first triathlon on a whim

Ryan Grant, who turned 30 today (July 29), is a passionate videographer who filmed his challenging journey as he completed the triathlon on Sunday.

Ryan said: "Completing a triathlon has been a bucket list item from a list I made in my twenties. I thought if I was going to do anything before I turned 30, that would be a nice one to get tick off." 

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He completed this feat with the help of Dan Collins, his opponent at a charity boxing match a few years ago.

Since then Dan has become a triathlete and founded Tri Tech which offers professional coaching to anyone interested.

Last year, Dan spent 24 hours on a treadmill to raise money for the NHS.

They started the triathlon with swimming in the River Blackwater.

Ryan with the stats from his river swim

Ryan said: "Swimming was by far the most difficult part as I don't have the best swimming technique. 

"That took us about an hour as not only was I quite slow, we also ended up swimming an extra 300m than planned due to the tide pulling us a little further out."

Then, after getting out of their wet clothes, Dan and Ryan cycled 28.8 miles with Ryan finishing the cycle in about two hours.

They ended up pedalling an extra 6km as they took a couple of wrong turns.

Ryan added: "A big thank you to Daniel who effectively baby sat me for the swim and the cycle." 

He then set off on the 10km run alone as Dan had to head off, and finished this in a little more than an hour.

Ryan had a well-deserved sit down after completing the triathlon

Ryan is a big fan of video editing and storytelling so he often creates videos of his adventures. 

Watch the triathlon video edited by Ryan on YouTube.

He hopes to challenge himself even more in 2022 by cycling from Essex to Amsterdam.

The cycle would start in Maldon and end in its historic twin town, Cujik.