World Championships beckon for busy triathlete and Board deputy

As an endurance athlete, middle distance is her preferred format – a 2km swim, followed by a 90km cycle, and topped off with a half-marathon.

“There was a heatwave [in Banyoles], so it was 41 degrees [Celsius] on the day of the race… so yeah, it was quite tough,” she laughs.

Nina with her husband, Louis Trup - who is also a deputy on the Board - in Banyoles (photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

When she first took up triathlon, she didn’t envisage that the stakes would get so high.

“The whole triathlon journey started as just a hobby. I love being outdoors. I love sport, and then I got started doing some races for a bit of fun.”

As she became better, she began to compete. The first race which she ever won was the qualifier for the World Championships, which is “a bit shorter” – 1.5km in the water, 40km on the bike, and a 10km run. It took place in Wales, and was televised and put in a BBC documentary, she says.

“The whole video was quite funny because I happened to dislocate my shoulder in the race. Then, because I won it, they went back to find the footage, and they included this bit where you see me dislocate my shoulder, and then I keep going.”

Despite her athletic prowess, triathlon is but an offshoot of her life. By day, she is the assistant headteacher and head of sixth form at a secondary school in north London.

“I would say my life is 90 per cent school,” she says. “I'm probably here 12 to 14 hours a day, and then sport kind of fits in.

“I don't have a coach and I'm not in a triathlon club,” she continues. “I just nip to the school gym and hop on the treadmill and bash out a quick 10km [run] if I can.”

Nina running the Alicante half marathon in February, in which she came fifth (photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

What started as a hobby is still a hobby, she maintains.

“I'm not training for the race,” she says. “I'm just doing what I like doing, and I think that helps because I'm not seeing it as an imposition in my life.

“Every weekend, I'll run a half marathon on my own. That's my treat day because that's a slow run. I won't raise my heart rate. I'll listen to a lovely audiobook, [or] quite often, I call a friend and have a long catch-up.”

She also fits in a 70km cycle around Regent’s Park, near where she lives, and a swim with her mother every week,

Between the teaching, running, swimming, and cycling, she still finds time to carry out one of her duties – as a deputy on the Board of Deputies.

She first became involved with the Board nearly ten years ago, when her rabbi at Finchley Reform Synagogue, which she attends every Shabbat, suggested it as a way of “getting [her] voice heard and having impact within the community”.

“I really believe that having a democratically elected body representing Jews is so important,” she says. “At this particular moment in time, the Board holds huge significance when we think about how the rest of the country perceives the Jewish community.”

It’s no surprise, then that she values her sport as a release from her busy life.

“I need the sport to release the tension of the day. I think it's true for so many people who enjoy moving – expending that energy as an outlet to be able to maintain wellbeing, stay positive, and keep regulated.”

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