Fabio Spiteri made history last week when he became the fourth Maltese triathlete after Nicky Farrugia, Charlie Demanuele and Kevin Attard to complete the Double Ultra Triathlon in Emstedden and establishing a national record in the process. Maria Vella Galea spoke with the veteran triathlete...

Fabio Spiteri completed the 7.6km swim, 360km cycle and 84.4km run in a time of 26 hours, 38 minutes.

The race poses not only a physical but also a mental challenge due to the long distance spread over short loops.

Spiteri exited the water in fourth place and whilst on the 360km cycle Spiteri was moving between sixth and eighth place.

As the race progressed Spiteri encountered nutritional challenges. However he was strong enough to place sixteenth overall out of a field of 65 athletes.

In your buildup for the Double Ultra Triathlon, can you pinpoint any low moments, and if so what made you continue?

The build-up was tough and lonely at times. However I can’t say I had any major low moments as I enjoy training, the harder the better I feel.

Nevertheless, the groin injury I sustained during my Ironman race in Port Macquarie in Australia four weeks before the race was a matter of concern for me.

In fact the decision to pull out of the race after 90km on the cycle route so as not to further increase the injury was a good one as I was healed in a week and in form for the race.

What frightened you most out of this race?

Although I am used to being amongst thousands of athletes in a race start, this was possibly the most frightening of the lot.

The start of the race was frightening, with all those kilometres which have to be tackled, a very long way ahead.

I think it is clearly a normal feeling amongst all athletes as they looked all nervous before the start.

Which was the trickiest part of it, why?

In the triathlon world we say that transition is the fourth discipline but in this case, it was certainly nutrition.

This is very tricky – you need to eat and drink every hour and ensuring that you are taking the right amount and correct nutrients – not too much and not to little.

Nutrition is the fuel that keeps the proverbial motor going, so if your energy levels are not right, then the price will be paid dearly during the race.

Did you ever think that there was a possibility you might not complete the race?

Without wanting to sound over confident, I can say no, not really.

I prepared myself for this race with the best possible approach, put in the hours as well as giving particular attention to mental preparation since the route involved many short laps that after a while can get boring. I went up for this race with a plan to finish.

A triathlete’s nightmare would be mechanical problems on the bike, but with a mechanic on site my mind was set at rest.

In the case of an injury I would have slowed down and if necessary crawl to the finish.

Did you have any idea of who the other competitors were?

These kind of races attract some of the sport’s best athletes – world champions, multiple deca triathlon athletes and triple ironman finishers.

For example in my swimming lane there was Richard Jung – Deca Ironman Challenge world record holder.

Deca Ironman is a long-distance triathlon consisting of approximately 18 hours of swimming, cycling and running every day for 10 days.

Another notable athlete was Robert Karas, current world record holder for Double Ironman.

Did you have any inspirational figure that you looked up to in your preparation for such a race?

I have two persons that I look up to and who have my full admiration – one is a Costa Rican athlete, nine-year-old Daniel Fajardo Somarribas, who is a wheel chair racing athlete who competes on a regular basis in his country.

“I also get immense inspiration from young triathlete Jake Vella – the seven-year-old boy who suffers from ROHHAD – an extremely rare life-threatening disease that causes him to gain weight despite his healthy diet and vigorous exercise regime.

Both of them, despite their physical challenges, train and race hard giving their utmost – they are my heroes.

Would you do something like this again? If yes why?

Never say never.

For the time being I will go back to half and full Ironman distances, but I know myself well enough to know that a second attempt at bettering my time is not something out of the question.

What is next for Fabio Spiteri?

Well, I think I deserve a few weeks to train easy and recover from this race.

Then will start to build up and peak for the forthcoming Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga, USA next September, for which I qualified last year.