AN EAST Lancs man completed a gruelling triathlon in near 100 degree temperatures despite being a self-confessed ‘novice’.

Neil Ashworth, 44, had to take swimming lessons and admitted he had barely ridden a bike since childhood before starting his last minute training.

But on Saturday Neil, from Blackburn, completed the event in Abu Dhabi which involved a 1,000metre open-water swim before a 50km cycle and 5km run.

He was raising money for Lupus, an illness of the immune system, after his mother died from the condition aged 69.

After the event, he said: “It was incredible. The swim was like being in a giant washing machine.

“The bike was the bit I was most concerned about, but it was not too bad. It was the run that got me, that’s when the heat hit home.

"My legs felt like jelly but the euphoria of finishing swept me along.”

The dad of two, who has raised £1,800, completed the event in around three-and-a-half hours.