Endurance athletes try to break three hours in swimming and running
'Cold Standard' competitors hope to break the magic mark in both disciplines by finishing a 10km swim then the marathon
In marathon swimming and running, the magic number is three: a sub-three-hour 10-kilometre swim is as elusive as a sub-three-hour 42-kilometre run. The athlete who nails them both? Unheard of - until now.
The Sub-3 squared Marathon Club unites endurance athletes who have done those times in a calendar year. Steven Munatones, of the World Open Water Swimming Association, proposed the challenge in 2012 and no-one has yet been able to claim membership.
But that is set to change this weekend when five hardy souls take on the world's first Sub-3 squared Marathon event in Hong Kong - the "Cold Standard", comprising at least 10 kilometres of the Cold Half open-water swim on Saturday, followed by the Standard Chartered Marathon on Sunday.
I don't think I could hack a marathon. I'm a swimmer, not a runner. I find it very difficult
"Usually, an athlete who's great at running isn't great at swimming," says organiser Doug Woodring.
"I could easily do the swim, for example, but not the run."
Locals Chris Molnar, Alexandre Reinert and Henry Wright, together with internationals Chad Bishop from Singapore and Tobias Frenz from Malaysia, are taking part.
"It's a little mad," admits Wright, 26, who won the Cold Half relay together with Hong Kong Olympic swimmer Hannah Wilson last year. Completing the feat will represent an opportunity for him to "step up" in a sporting family - older brothers Andrew and Mark are Hong Kong national athletes in triathlon and rugby sevens respectively.
"I felt I haven't really pushed myself to do anything until now," he says. "I thought I had to pick a challenge that was a little extreme. And I was just a little bored, to be honest; I was looking for something exciting."
