Henderson couple to compete in triathlons in Norway, Denmark

John Mercer, a biomechanist in the department of kinesiology and nutrition sciences at UNLV, has dedicated the majority of his adult life to testing the limits of physical abilities.

He and his wife, Laura, have competed in races around the globe over the past few decades. They’ve traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, and Boulder, Colorado, as well as Japan, New Zealand and Austria to compete in Ironman Triathlons and BBSC Endurance Running events. In August, the Henderson residents plan to travel to Norway, where John will compete in the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon.

A triathlon traditionally involves swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Ironman events consist of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run, done without a break.

Originally from New York, John, 53, competed in his first triathlon in 1985 while attending Buffalo State College in New York. .

After discovering how physical activity could change people’s lives, he said, he was hooked. He got a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

He met Laura while training for a triathlon.

“He invited me to watch one, and I could not believe how fit the people were,” Laura said. “I was not very athletic, but I wanted to try a triathlon as well. Little did I know what we would be doing together 20 years later.”

The couple moved to Henderson in 1999, when John accepted a job at UNLV. He studies endurance performance and the climatic factors that influence it. Laura is set to begin teaching physical education classes there this fall, including triathlon and jogging classes.

John conducts research projects involving running shoes and triathlon wet suits; he examines how ones core temperature changes depending on styles of gear. His professional and personal interests often overlap; he uses his morning commute as training time on his bike.

The duo’s inspiration to stay fit was their two sons. John was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 16 years ago. He had difficultymoving, and it took years to find treatments that helped alleviate the symptoms so he could be active again, Laura said.

When John became mobile enough to continue his athletic pursuits around 2007, the Mercers decided to make exercise a priority. They signed up for races around the Las Vegas Valley and participated in endurance sports as often as possible.

They competed in Nevada Silverman Triathlons until they were discontinued in 2016.

“We knew that John had to keep moving for his RA, so it just became part of our life,” Laura said.

The Norseman on Aug. 5 will be John’s first. Of the 3,650 applicants, 250 people were selected to compete, largely chosen at random, John said. He was able to get a spot because a wetsuit and triathlon gear company he does research with, Huub, is sponsoring the event.

“The owner said, ‘Oh, I’m sponsoring Norseman, so if you ever want to do that, just let me know,’” John said. “I thought for about 10 seconds then said, ‘I’ll do it.’”

The distance of the race is 140 miles.

If competitiors hit the 20-mile mark and they’re ranked in the top 160, they receive a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Norseman Triathlon.” The rest of the competitors are directed around a different side of the mountain to a separate finish line, where they receive a white T-shirt.

“It’s sort of silly, but that’s the goal,” John said of the T-shirt award. “It’s an honor to get that, and you only wear it on occasion.”

John expects to be one of the oldest competitors. Over the past few months, he’s trained on bike around the River Mountains Loop Trail in southeast Henderson and run up to 50 miles a week. He trains for the swimming portion of the race at the Willow Beach Marina in Willow Beach, Arizona, or at Boulder Beach at Lake Mead.

Laura, 50, is training for Ironman Copenhagen in Denmark on Aug. 20, which will be her third Ironman this year.

For the Norseman, she will serve as John’s “support crew” since the race doesn’t provide aid stations throughout the path. She’ll be tracking John’s progress in a car so she can meet up with him to provide food or water. The pair studied a map of the race in preparation.

“We really enjoy this as a lifestyle and traveling to places we never would’ve gone to had it not been for a race,” John said. “Norway was never on our list of places to go, but now we’re going.”

Contact Alex Meyer at ameyer@viewnews.com or 702-383-0496. Follow @alxmey on Twitter.