Inspiring people to get out of their comfort zone is what drives adventurer and endurance athlete Luke Tyburski to push himself to the limit.
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The former Bathurst resident, who was a top level soccer player as a teenager, lived the dream of playing in the United States, Belgium and England before hanging up his boots two years ago.
“I retired from soccer because my body kept breaking down. I had three surgeries in 11 months, with major back injuries as well, and I decided to retire and then I signed up to a 250 kilometre marathon race through the Sahara Desert,” he said.
“I retired from soccer for injuries and started doing endurance sports and adventures, which makes no sense,” he laughed.
Since then the 30-year-old, who is based in London, has travelled the world competing in events like the grueling 250 kilometre Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert in 2012, the Mount Everest 65 kilometre Ultra Marathon in March, and a series of other extreme challenges of his own design.
“One of the reasons I’m doing all these adventures is to inspire others. That’s always been my main goal, to inspire others, not necessarily to go out and run marathons, but just to get them out of their own comfort zone which, unfortunately, these days far too many people fall into and don’t try and get out of,” he said.
When he is not taking part in extreme adventures, Luke works as a personal trainer, a cooking teacher and writes articles and edits films about his experiences.
Luke believes his adventures are not only a great chance to see the world, but a great way to inspire others and show them parts of the world they might not get to see through his articles and video footage.
He has written articles for magazines in the United States, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and has just finished a book about the month he spent in Nepal for the Mount Everest 65km Ultra Marathon.
He is also working on a series of cookbooks on wheat-free baking and energy bars, to share his passion for natural and nourishing food.
“It’s quite busy and stressful to try to finish the books off but I want to share what I’ve created with others,” he said.
“There’s so many elite and endurance athletes these days and all the gels and the bars they take, they’re fuel but they are full of so many artificial sugars,” he said.
“Everything that I bake and make is real food,” he said. “It’s much better for you and you feel better and get a better energy hit from them.”
Luke said he was lucky to be able to have a career with such a mix of fitness, health and creative pursuits.
“When I get it right it’s a great balance, but I’ve really enjoyed the combination,” he said.
While he is still finalising his calendar for 2014, Luke is planning on running 100 miles in the North Downs Way 100 in England in August and will compete in the Double Brutal Extreme Triathlon in Wales in September.
The triathlon is a double Ironman and includes a 7.7 kilometre swim, 360km bike ride with 5000 metres of climbing, and an 84 kilometre run which will incorporate Mount Snowden, the highest mountain in Wales.
Luke is looking forward to the triathlon, which will be a training run for a large event he is organising in 2015.
“I can’t reveal what it is, but it’s going to be very big. It’s a first time, never-been-done event and should be very interesting,” he said.
With such a very busy schedule, Luke said he was delighted to be back in his home town of Bathurst for the holiday season.
“It is lovely to come home and spend time with family. Although I am still working on the books, I have had a few days where I’ve done absolutely nothing. It’s just great to come back.”
Luke said the support of Matty Willis from Sportsco Bathurst had been a great help in chasing his dreams.
He said Matt was a top bloke who had helped him out by supplying him with gear for his big adventures.
To learn more about Luke’s adventures head to his website http://luketyburski.com.