Leighton's Labour candidate Daniel Scott triumphs at Iron Man triathlon!

Daniel Scott, 41, who was running to win the South West Bedfordshire seat, managed to balance his political campaigning with training for his Half Iron Man challenge.

On June 25, Daniel headed down to Marlow for a 7am start, pushing himself through a 1.9km swim, an 86km cycle and a 20km run.

He said: “I had plans for the Half Iron Man and then the election came along! I stood two years ago and I was asked whether I wanted to stand again.

“I’d already spent most of the autumn, winter and spring building myself up for the triathlon.

“On the morning of Iron Man, I got up at 4.15am feeling nervous and then had to fill my stomach with heavy carbs!

“I found that the swim and cycle went OK, however the second half of the run was painful as one of my feet went numb! I had to stop for a moment and take my shoe off.

“Luckily, the run took you through a nice park by the Thames and everyone cheers you on!”

Daniel completed the course in six-and-a-half hours and his family met him at the finish line. He said: “A couple of years ago I joined the Leighton Buzzard Triathlon Club and met people there who had taken on the challenge of the Full Iron Man - a 3.8km swim, 112 mile cycle and full marathon - that’s for super athletes!

“Last year my friend Andrew Keen completed a Full one in Austria, losing lots of weight; it was very inspiring.”

Daniel now hopes to challenge himself to another Half Iron Man and get his time down to six hours.

He runs a business called Mail Boxes Etc., Milton Keynes, and lives on Drakes Avenue, near Heath Road, Leighton, with his wife, Jindra, 42, daughter, Lucy, 13, and son, Jacob, five.

On June 8, Daniel received 18,793 votes for Labour.