Author Biff Mitchell Enters Olympic Level Triathlon to Research Novel

“If I survive the training, then I just might finish the triathlon,” said author Biff Mitchell, who hopes to complete an Olympic level triathlon to research a chapter in the sequel to his best selling ebook “The War Bug”, which is hitting bookstores in paperback this October.

The event Mitchell entered is the Duncan Hadley Triathlon to be held at Killarney Lake in New Brunswick, Canada, on July 10, one month after his fifty-eighth birthday. “It’s a 1500 meter swim,” said Mitchell. “Followed by a 40 kilometer bike ride and a 10 kilometer run. I don’t plan to break any records. I’ll be happy to finish, alive.”

Mitchell has been training daily for the event. “I usually swim 2 to 3 kilometers a couple times a week,” he said. “But I only started running and biking again a few weeks ago. My legs are just beginning to get used to the training, so I suppose my chances of living through this are improving every day.”

Mitchell’s novel “The War Bug”, originally scheduled for release in June, has been postponed at the author’s request till October 2005 after research revealed that the summer months are the worst of the year for book sales.

Set 200 years in the future, the “The War Bug” revolves around Abner Hayes, who has just hours to save his virtual family from death at the hands of a ruthless kidnapper. His only ally is a deadly computer virus responsible for a virtual war that’s killed millions and threatens to destroy the Internet from Earth to Jupiter.

The sequel is a reversal of the original plot. Hayes daughter, Cassie, has to save her father with help from the same computer virus that aided her father.

One of the key scenes in the novel is an online triathlon that pits humans against virtual athletes. “I plan to develop the themes of humanness and intelligent programs that I touched on in ‘The War Bug’,” said Mitchell. “And what better way to do it than with an event that tests your mind, body and spirit.”

Details on the triathlon, along with pictures of the route, will be posted at www.biffmitchell.com over the next few weeks.

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Thom Glen

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biffmitchell.com

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