IN 2005, Haverfordwest woman Clair Davies hung up her trainers after seemingly running her last competitive race, writes Fraser Watson.

Nine years later, and she has just returned from Hawaii following a superb performance in the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii.

Clair, who works at Pembrokeshire College, completed the gruelling event in 13 hours and two minutes, to finish 46th in the 45-49 year old category.

She has been involved in multisport activities since 1991, and competed for Great Britain in age group championships at the Olympic Distance Triathlon in both Mexico and Canada, before taking up adventure racing in 2003.

Despite unofficially retiring from competition in 2005, in 2012 she was offered a place in Ironman Wales.

“The call came after six years of relative inactivity bringing up my two children,” Clair told Telegraph Sport.

“But I completed the race in just over 12 hours to finish fourth in my age group - and I enjoyed every minute of it.

“The crowds at Tenby were amazing, so when in 2013 the council offered me a lottery place just seven weeks before the event I jumped at the chance - even though I had done very little training.”

Despite this, Clair managed to claim second place in her age group in 13 hours, 13 minutes, and 33 seconds.

Although she admitted to being disappointed with the time, it was enough for automatic qualification into the 2014 Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii.

“I knew that for many, this event  is the pinnacle of their trials and tribulations, so for me it was an amazing surprise and an opportunity which I could not let pass,” added Clair.

So after a year’s preparation, Clair turned out in what proved to be the worst conditions that Ironman competitors in Kona had experienced in 15 years - with temperatures of 33 degrees centigrade, 80 % humidity, and 80 mile per hour  winds.

And she admitted that it was the middle leg of the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run that she found most challenging.

“The conditions affected me most on the bike - and I was pedalling for an hour longer than I would have liked,” said Clair.

“But during the run I managed to overtake over 200 people to finish 46th in my age group - and was the first British competitor home in this category in a13 hours and two minutes.

“It was the best event experience off my life.”

And to cap off an amazing trip, Clair also took the opportunity to marry her long term partner while she was out in Hawaii.

But while she has no intentions to return to Ironman competition in the near future, the former Sports Development officer has said she will continue competing, and will more then likely step down to middle distance racing.

Clair is also heavily involved in coaching with the Pocket Rockets and Tristars clubs, who train at Sir Thomas Picton School on Saturday mornings. The Tristars (for junior athletes) train at 9:30am and the Pocket Rockets (cycling club for children aged three and over) at 11am.