Sophie Bubb produced a stunning performance to put herself amongst the world’s elite at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

The 36-year-old mum-of-two from Lymington took a full hour off her previous time in triathlon’s blue riband event to place tenth in the 35-39 age category, and has already set her sights on reaching the top step of the podium next year.

Bubb clocked a fantastic time 10:18 in the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and marathon run to add to an impressively growing CV that has seen her bag six podium finishes in the eight long distance triathlons in which she has so far competed.

She said: “I was aiming for 10:30 and top 10 so I am pretty happy. The bike course ended up being quicker than I estimated so I came away with a 10:18. I just need to find 20 mins for the win next year.

“I am now generally pretty tired and just want to get home and see my boys, who are two and four.

“Also I am feeling relief at delivering on my own performance targets, but it is a fine line between triumph and total breakdown.

“My next event is Ironman Western Australia on December 3, with the specific goals of adding to my collection of Ironman amateur titles, going sub 10 hours, ending the season on top of the world rankings for my age-group and qualifying for Kona 2018.

“These goals are all very realistic and an early qualification for the world champs would enable a long and clear build up to my third attempt, where I am firmly focussed on hitting the top step.”

Bubb’s time splits included a 1:08 swim, 5:31 bike and 3:31 marathon in the brutal heat and humidity of Hawaii’s Big Island.

A late surge in the marathon in which Bubb significantly increased her pace also saw her in the post-race medical tent for an hour, but with a finish time and position to savour.

Bubb has picked up a host of sponsors and technical partners along the way, including a deal with Z Hotels.

But with two young children to care for it is the support of her family that has kept her going.

“It takes a huge family effort to compete at this level with two pre-school boys,” she reflected.

“My biggest backer is my husband Nick who got me into endurance sport and has placed his own sporting ambitions on semi-permanent hold to 'manage' my efforts and look after our boys when he's not working. My mother also helps out one day a week and around competitions.”