A ROSSETT man admits he came close to quitting a gruelling 1,600-mile triathlon from Spain to Wrexham – but was driven on by his father’s illness.
Matthew Bennett, 34, completed the ‘Suck It Up’ journey on Monday to raise awareness of prostate cancer.
He was met by wife Anne and daughters Jessica, 18 months, and 11-week-old Emma after swimming from Tarifa to Morocco, cycling across Spain, France and England to Whitchurch and running the last 16 miles.
His dad Martin has prostate cancer and has just finished an intensive period of chemotherapy.
Matthew, who runs Bellis Bros Ltd, Holt, wanted to make more men aware of the condition.
He said: “My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer around three years ago but had symptoms before going to see a doctor. He’s had chemotherapy and now it’s just a case of waiting to see what happens.
“It’s a very treatable disease if caught early enough but most men bury their head in the sand.”
Matthew began with a 12-mile swim from Tarifa, Spain, to the coast of Morocco.
He said: “It was so hard I contemplated drowning at one point but one of the guys in the boat following me told me I only had 2km to go. I was driven on by a fear of failure and kept going.”
He then had a 1,400-mile cycle to London, via Madrid and Calais.
As his knee had been giving him problems throughout, and he had not had a chance to run in training since January because of injury, Matthew cycled the leg he had planned to run before getting off his bike at Whitchurch.
He added: “I’m shattered and am in bits but am so glad I completed it.”
Visit Matthew’s blog and fundraising pages at www.matthewbennett. co.uk.
