A few drinks can lead people to some strange places.

And Simon Bradbury, a partner at Huntingdonshire estate agents Thomas Morris, should know.

He has had to stub out his much-enjoyed cigars and put the cork back in the bottle of Chablis as he has committed, following a few libations one night, to completing an Olympic standard triathlon – that’s a 1.5km open-water swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run.

It’s a challenge for many people, but a huge one for a 52-year-old who confesses to not leading the healthiest of lifestyles and to being barely able to swim.

He blames his little brother Jason Bradbury – a television presenter on Channel Five’s Gadget Show – for his predicament. “It came about when I was drinking one night and my little brother rang up and asked if I wanted to do a triathlon. I said ‘yes’ and then was unable to back out,” said Simon.

For the last six weeks he has been training hard and fundraising as he is using the triathlon in London to support a worthy cause – Huntingdon-based emergency medical charity Magpas.

“The most difficult thing is the swimming – I could barely swim. Jason arranged for a swimming coach to help me train for open water swimming.”

His training regime is relentless – there is open water swimming at Kempston on Saturday and Sunday and bike rides and running three or four times a week. Then Simon practices them all on the weekend. There is simply no time for cigars and wine.

He says his aim is to get round the course, which is at the ExCeL Centre in London on August 3, rather than compete with the other participants. And he is dreading the swim, having taken on two shorter triathlon competitions to practice.

“People are jostling each other, I’ve had people swim over the top of me and I’ve been kicked in the face, although it was not intentional ,” he added.

While some family and friends originally believed he was an “idiot” for accepting the challenge, Simon said they have been very supportive and he had made them proud.

His fundraising is going well – more than £1,800 already raised for Magpas – which he describes as “local heroes who perform incredible work, saving lives without any Government or Lottery funding”.

INFORMATION: To donate visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/BradburyBoys.