Ironwoman takes third place

Fiona Bosher, the UK member of the Oakley Transitions Ironman Team, stormed home in last weekend's Monaco Ironman 70.3 to take third place in her age group.

The Hampshire-based optometrist was part of a seven-strong team of opticians from around Europe brought together by Oakley and Transitions to take part in this gruelling event. Bosher swam 1.9km in the Mediterranean, cycled 90km into the French Alps and then completed a half marathon for a finishing time of 6:23:18.

This won her the third-place trophy in the female 35 to 40 year-old category and a qualifying place at the Clearwater 70.3 Ironman in Florida. She was also just one place away from winning a slot to the world Ironman championships in Hawaii. This was a massive achievement for Bosher who was competing in her first Ironman 70.3 and had hardly ridden a bike before embarking on the Oakley Transitions-inspired triathlon programme.

Bosher could hardly speak after finishing the event, but immediately thanked her friends, family and husband for all their support during the race and the many months of training. 'I feel my race went to plan, I wanted to do under seven hours but when I saw I could beat 6:30 I really went for it and by the end I had pushed every ounce of energy out.'