STAGED across the lava fields of Hawaii's biggest island, the Kona Ironman World Championship race is one of the toughest triathlons in the world.
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In her second attempt at the Kona Iron Man challenge, Eurongilly resident Jenny Hart has taken the event by storm.
She finished eighth and was the first Australian home in her age group - 45 to 49 years old.
The challenge includes a 3.8 kilometre swim, 180km bike ride and finishes with a 42.2km run.
"On the world circuit, you're just racing yourself," Hart said.
Competitors have 17 hours to complete the challenge with Hart storming home in 11 hours and 26 minutes.
Up to 80 women were competing in the age group Hart was in and she said she achieved her goal of improving on last year's performance - where she finished 13th.
"If you end up in the top 10 it's a good feeling, ultimately I'd like to end up on the podium," she said.
Despite technically being a race, Hart said it wasn't just about going flat-out with a clear strategy needed.
"I have a race plan, but it went out the window because of the high winds," she said.
"You've got to be able to pace yourself, you're out there for a long time ... you need to know when to take a slight risk and push a little harder," she said.
Hart said across the race distance, pushing ahead she and her coach had planned to meant not being able to finish the race.
"It's about knowing your body and what you're capable of."
Conditions on the day were best described as some of the worst in 15 years with competitors battling wind gusts of up to 110 kilometres an hour and temperatures in the high 30s.
Despite the brutal conditions Hart still completed the run (42.2km) in three hours and 27 minutes, 7.5 minutes ahead of other age-group competitors.
An ideal time for most marathons is three hours and 30 minutes and only 14 other amateur competitors were faster than Hart on the day.
When it comes to training, Hart said part of it was physical - a mix of long rides up to six hours long and daily training but also mental.
"You've just got to knuckle through it and be mentally prepared for it ... set goals throughout the marathon."
After covering more than 220km Hawaii, you'd think Hart would want to relax, but she's aiming to qualify for the duathlon (running and cycling) world championships in Adelaide, before working towards qualifying for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships on the Gold Coast.
