A NORTH Berwick sports enthusiast put her skills to the test as she embarked upon one of sport’s toughest challenges – after training for the event by cycling with Olympic champion Marianne Vos.

Hannah Melville was in Bolton, Lancashire, last month as she took her place for the Ironman triathlon, a gruelling test of endurance which requires competitors to complete a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. Indeed, the final leg of the mammoth effort is the same distance as running a marathon.

The 24-year-old produced an impressive performance at the event as she completed the course in 12hrs 31minutes – a time good enough to see her finish third in her age category.

Hannah was presented with a trophy by three-time Ironman world champion Craig Alexander, but is determined that she can do better despite an impressive performance in her Ironman debut.

She told Courier Sport: “I absolutely loved it, and I’m going to do another Ironman next year. I think I might have a new addiction, plus there’s always the drive to beat my previous time, especially my run time; I was pretty disappointed with my 4 hour 41 minute marathon.” But for now, the 24-year-old economics student at Edinburgh University is planning on concentrating on her cycling, and is looking to get involved in the university team as she enters her final year of studies.

Having finished the epic triathlon, rather than enjoying some down-time before going back to university, Hannah told Courier Sport she felt lost without the rigorous training schedule, so much so that she has signed up for a marathon next month.

“I’m doing a marathon next month – I only signed up last week but I felt lost without the training so I needed something to ease myself back in,” she said.

In training for her Ironman exploits, Hannah cycled, swam and ran three times a week, as well as undertaking strength and conditioning training, and yoga.

She was even invited on a cycling trip with with Dutch cycling legend Marianne Vos in April, after spotting her looking for women to join her in Spain through social media.

She described the four-day event as “absolutely amazing” and said the whole group were in awe of Vos, who offered hints and tips to the six hand-picked riders.

Being in the company of the current Olympic women’s road race champion was “great training and a fantastic opportunity to learn from undoubtedly the best female cyclist at the moment,” according to the former North Berwick High School pupil.