Sean Conway

Sean Conway (born 1981) is a Zimbabwean born Irish ultra endurance athlete, author of several books and motivational speaker. He broke the world record for completing 105 Ironman triathlons in 105 days. He was the first person to swim the length of Britain, is the only person to have completed a length of Britain triathlon, has completed the world's longest triathlon of 4200 miles and has the world record for the fastest self supported cycle across Europe.

Early and personal life

Conway was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 6 April 1981. He attended Hilton College in South Africa. Sean Conway is also Irish. In a 2024 video, he confirmed his Irish roots, noting how his heritage has influenced his identity and approach to endurance sports.

He lived in Cheltenham

He earns his living as an adventurer, author and public speaker.

Swimming

Starting on 30 June 2013, Conway set out to swim from Land's End in the south-west of Great Britain, to John o' Groats in the north, travelling up the west coast of Great Britain and via the east coast of Ireland. He completed the swim on 11 November, The run was made into a two-part documentary called Sean Conway: Running Britain for Discovery Channel UK. Conway completed the "ultimate triathlon" unsupported, without the support of a team or lifeboats.

In 2016 Conway set the world record for the world's longest triathlon, a 4,200-mile journey around the coast of Britain. This was made into a documentary now on Amazon Prime called Sean Conway on the Edge. This record has since been broken by Jonas Deichmann.

In 2023 Conway broke the world record for the most Ironman Triathlons completed in a row. He completed 105 Ironmans in 105 days, surpassing James Lawrence's record of 101.

Cycling Conway took the record for the fastest, unsupported crossing of Europe by bicycle in March 2018. Starting in Cabo de Roca on the west coast of Portugal, he cycled nearly 4,000 miles, finishing at the Russian town of Ufa in 24 days, 18 hours and 39 minutes. The movie Europe or Bust covers this trip. The record was superseded by Leigh Timmis in a fully supported attempt later the same year.

Conway cycled around the world in 2012 in an attempt to break the world record. However, his attempt came to an abrupt end when he was run over in America. He continued, after three weeks of recovery, to raise money for Solar Aid, returning to London 155 days later.

in 2008 Conway cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats, which took him 25 days. He wrote a book about his journey.

Running

Conway has run the length of Britain, which took 44 days. His journey was made into a documentary for Discovery Channel called Sean Conway Running Britain.

Conway has run across Iceland, which took 10 days. There is a short film on Youtube about his run.

He ran a marathon in each of the UK national parks consecutively: 15 marathons in 15 days.

He also ran 280 miles from Conwy Castle in North Wales to Castle Conway on the west of Ireland.

The 496 Challenge Conway came up with the now global challenge called The 496 Challenge. The concept is to run the day of the month in kilometres. On the first of the month, one runs 1 km, on the second, 2 km, and so on, ending the month with a 31 km run. This ends up totaling to a run of 496 km.

Books

2012 - Cycling Lands End to John O'Groats 2014 - Cycling the Earth 2015 - Running Britain 2016 - Hell and High Water 2018 - Big Mile Cycling 2019 - The Chronicles of William Wilder - Tempura's Treasure

Documentaries Sean Conway Running Britain - Discovery Channel (now on Amazon Prime) Sean Conway On the Edge - Discovery Channel (now on Amazon Prime) Sean Conway Europe or Bust - Amazon Prime The 496 Challenge - YouTube short film National Park Marathons - YouTube short film Running Across Iceland - YouTube short film

Championing youth sport Conway encourages youth sport through the True Venture Foundation. He raised over £100,000 for True Venture during his 105 Ironmans world record attempt. He received a personal letter from Prince William about his efforts in youth sport.