Glenrothes Tri Club: Ironman Wales finisher Isobel Robertson urging locals to join 'friendly and inclusive' club

And Robertson, 30, who was raised in Kirkcaldy, is keen to stress that runners of all ability levels are encouraged to join the Glenrothes-based group, although she admitted that committing to triathlon can be very demanding, especially when also fitting in her full-time job as an advanced practice physiotherapist with NHS Forth Valley.

Robertson, whose clubmate Lee Kinnell, of Lower Largo, also completed last year’s Ironman Wales, told the Fife Free Press: “Because I work as a physiotherapist I’ve always got an interest in the human body and what you can do with it.

"But what I really like about our club specifically is that it’s really friendly, really inclusive and really open to people of all abilities.

"They really want anybody to come and give it a try, regardless of your background or your fitness levels.

"And you don’t have to do a full triathlon to come along. They just want people to come and take part, have fun, make friends and enjoy it.

"The club has also just put through a number of new coaches – of which I am one.

"There has been a real push to get more female coaches because there’s obviously quite a lot of under representation of women in sport, particularly triathlon.

"Normally 20% of the field is female and the rest is male. At the Ironman Wales last year, every one in 10 finishers were female.”

Robertson stressed that distances in the three triathlon disciplines can vary in length according to the participants’ experience – with classes ranging from novice all the way to extreme triathlon.

She and co-member Lee Kinnell are now signed up to do the Celtman Extreme Trithlon in northern Scotland next June.

"I’ll have to train six days a week for that, sometimes twice in a day,” Robertson said.

"It is hard to fit in the training because I work full-time as a physio for the NHS and also part-time in semi-professional football with Dunfermline Athletic Football Club, where I work at their academy and I also do work for Elgin City, covering their games in this part of the world.

Glenrothes Tri Club – whose members typically meet for hour-long training sessions at Michael Woods Sports & Leisure Centre in Glenrothes – is currently looking for new members. Email [email protected] or via Facebook for further information.