NAPLES, Fla. — Runners, cyclists and swimmers put each other through their paces Sunday at the 36th annual Fitness Challenge event.
About 600 people participated in the reverse sprint distance triathlon, which consisted of a 5-K run, a nine-mile run, and a quarter-mile swim.
Orlando resident Mitchell West said competing in a triathlon takes lots of preparation.
"I took about four weeks of specific training where I was on a bike, working up to the full length," West said.
He said he learned from the best — his father.
"I train all the time," said Perry West, who lives in Naples. "I'm a cancer survivor. I lost half my lung three years ago."
The elder West has competed in the Ironman triathlon and says despite what he's been through, he tells everyone the same thing.
"You can still keep going."
