The race is divided into three stages over three days, with a 12 hour cut-off each day.

Ultraman Australia starts and finishes at iconic Noosa Heads beach, in front of the Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club.

The race is limited to fifty-five athletes on an invitation-only basis and attracts participants from around the world.

Mort revealed what tempted him into Ultramarathon experiences, when he was first running simple marathons.

“I was getting my equipment ready for the run and we had to clear out of the way for the ‘Ultra-marathon’ runners,” he said.

“I asked what it was and when I heard it was a three-day event I laughed it off and said it was impossible, a stance that I held for 18 years.”

It’s only recently that Mort has been lured to the world of 200km+ runs, 10-hour swim events and 36 hours of gruelling racing.

“After I stopped doing the Ironman events, I wanted to try a few other things, and it was when I was in the southern alps of New Zealand and after that I thought ‘I could have a go at the 3-day triathlon,” he said.

Day one starts with a 10km ocean swim, which must be completed in six hours.

This is followed by a 140km bike ride through the spectacular Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Day two is a 280km bike ride, and day three sees the athletes up early for a double marathon – that’s an 84.3km run.

The last section of the run is along Noosa Beach, and the finish line is outside the Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club.

The middle day is the challenge for Mort, as the biggest ride up to this point in his self-coached regime has been 230km, and that was in a triathlon competition that allowed for racer drafting.

“I’m a bit nervous, you only have 12 hours each day and if you go over that 12 hours you’re out,” he said.

“The second day is the day I’m not sure about just because it will be pushing me to my limits, but mentally I have to be ready.”

Mort believes that more than half the race is mental, and feels he is physically ready and has to have his mental state there as well.

“I’m trying to be as ready as I can,” he said.

“The mental aspect is at least half, maybe more at the back end of each day when you are definitely going slower.

“You have to keep moving forward, so it’s more than the physical side of it.”

The 2017 field includes participants representing Australia, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Spain and the USA.

Last year saw Arnaud Selukov take out the top spot in the 2016, with Tim Franklin in second and Juan Bautista Arroyo in third.