Redland Hospital nurse Paula Durrant an Ironwoman champ

The Ormiston local has proven she is tougher than what she may seem after being crowned an Ironwoman at the event in Port Macquarie last month and finishing well below the 17-hour time limit.

She completed a 3.8km swim, 180km bike course and a 42.2km run in just under 13 hours and 50 minutes.

Ms Durrant, who began running six years ago after moving to Australia from the United Kingdom, said she had a 30-week training program.

“Fitting that in around working shifts in the (emergency department) and volunteering at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April and it was pretty hard going,” she said.

Ms Durrant said a serious accident in last year’s half ironman event, which saw her suffer serious facial injuries, was extra motivation to complete this year’s full challenge.

“I was at the 80km mark on my bike so I only had 10km to go and I didn’t turn a corner properly, came off and smashed up my face and had a head injury,” she said.

“This year I lost a toe nail and had some chaffing so I was pretty happy.”

Despite reducing training hours, the mother of two has not slowed down since the marathon and said she was in preparation mode for the upcoming Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast half marathons.

“I want to try and get personal bests in those,” she said.

Ms Durrant said she was thrilled with all the support she had received from family, friends and colleagues at the hospital who tracked her progress throughout the event.

“One of the biggest things out of this is that I wanted my daughters to be able to say my mum is an ironman and now they can,” she said.