WORKERS are being urged to swap the staff room for the locker room by organisers of a new triathlon event.

Three business-owning brothers are calling on Bolton firms’ employees to sign up to the Charity Triathlon Relay, which is part of their Get Companies Active initiative.

Adam, Nick and Dom Pope have put together the sporting event after receiving an overwhelming response when they pitched it to Bolton’s business community.

The triathlon includes a 400m pool swim, an 18k bike ride, and a 5k run, with teams of three dividing the events between them.

Adam Pope, who runs Get Claims Advice, based in St George’s Square, said the idea grew from the brothers trying to come up with new ways to keep employees ‘happy and energised’. And he added that an active workforce made sense for companies and employees.

He said: “We started to look into the sickness rates and the cost to business when people are off through ill health,. And if you look at the strain the NHS is under at the moment, a lot of the illnesses people suffer with experts say can be prevented with regular exercise.”

The event, which takes place on Sunday, October 8, will run alongside a family fun day, Sport in the Park, in Queens Park. Charities to benefit will be Bolton Lads and Girls Club, Urban Outreach and Bolton Hospice.To enter a team visit getcompaniesactive.co.uk