Polar tri-athlete
Tim Don on the stationary bike at The Sands Expo Hall at CES

LAS VEGAS—Doing an Ironman triathlon is hard enough. Now, imagine trying to complete one surrounded by 160,000 people at the International CES.

The V800
Polar’s V800

That was the challenge presented to world-class triathlete Tim Don, who spent the bulk of the day swimming, biking and running in one of the better PR stunts we’ve seen here at the show.

When we saw Don at 11:30 am this morning, the British-born triathlete was about four hours into his 112-mile ride on a stationary bike at the Polar booth in the Sands Expo Center.

“When they said come to Vegas and I’ve never been here, I thought it would be good fun, and then they told me about the Ironman,” said Don with a laugh as I interviewed the sweating triathlete on his S-Works bike. “It was lost in translation.”

“It’s great training, and it’s good fun as well, so why not?” said Don, laughing when I asked him if he’d ever competed in an Ironman in a convention center before. “I can honestly say, no, not at all.”

Tim Don on the escalator as he looks to complete his triathlon at CES.
Tim Don on the escalator as he looks to complete an Ironman at CES

Don said he usually trains in his basement, so a convention center wasn’t half bad. “There’s a lot more to look at here, so it is good fun, and it is nice introducing new people to triathlon as well.”

Don, who was touting Polar’s V800 fitness tracker, which includes a heart monitor and cycling sensors, started the day at 6 a.m. at The Venetian pool deck for his 2.4-mile swim before biking over to the Sands. At about 3:30 p.m., the 36-year-old hopped off a treadmill at the Polar booth — where he’d knocked off most of the marathon — to finish the 26.2-mile run from the Sands to the Las Vegas Convention Center.

He seemed in good spirits when I randomly bumped into him on the escalators on his way to the main convention center for his triumphant entry at the Central Plaza.

Here’s a video of Don from earlier today where you can hear his response when he overheard me saying to a PR rep that it seemed really boring. Enjoy!

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