Stepping up the effort

Fiona Molloy is the would-be Ironwoman who has taken on the gargantuan challenge of swimming 1.9km in the sea, immediately followed by a mountainous 90km cycle through the switchbacks above Monaco, topped off with a half-marathon.

The training regime for such an event is pretty much a full-time job in itself, but add to that other major life milestones, such as your own wedding, moving house and coping with a new profession, and you begin to appreciate just how much Molloy has taken on.

Molloy, who works for the Matheson group of practices in Hampshire, joins opticians from across Europe and South Africa in the challenge to compete in the Monaco Ironman 70.3 triathlon which takes place this September.