EMMA-KATE LIDBURY has picked up a habit that all sports stars strive for – it’s called winning, writes Danny Hall.

The Cricklade triathlete won the UK Ironman 70.3 over a brute of a course at Wimbleball on Exmoor last Sunday, a month after gaining her first victory in a similar event on Majorca.

And that came a month after winning a competitive triathlon in the Caribbean.

What was particularly satisfying was that she made up four minutes on the leader Simone Benz of Switzerland in the final half-marathon run section, traditionally the weakest of her disciplines.

And she showed a champion’s guts and determination to battle back into the lead after being headed by Ireland’s Eimear Mullen.

At the line, she had broken away from her Irish rival to win by 45 seconds.

Lidbury had felt ‘a lack of zip’ in her legs when only eighth in a pro race in Switzerland on her previous Ironman 70.3 outing, but on the notoriously punishing Exmoor course she showed true grit to win in 5:01.01.

Emma-Kate said: “This race was extra special for me; not only was it on home soil, but at this race last year I had led for so much of it, only to fade to third in the closing miles.

“Some of the competitors in the swim seemed more intent on boxing than swimming. By the end of it I was just pleased to reach dry land in one piece.

“The bike course at Wimbleball makes grown men cry, with 53 hills in 56 miles. Then, on the run I felt so bad, I was ready to walk off the course.”

Having worked so hard to reel in Benz, to be quickly overtaken by Mullen, an athlete with a much faster PB in the half marathon, must have been devastating for Lidbury.

But with just two miles to go, she had clawed her way back into the lead before kicking for home.

As she said: “It was a race that was won in the mind.

“Again, I couldn’t follow my dream without the help of my sponsors Wiggle, Swindon & Cirencester-based chartered accountants Morris Owen and mobile telecoms firm Virtua.

“And, finally, I would like to thank my dad. The race was run on Fathers’ Day and, although my dad died eight years ago, he was with me every step of the way.

“A large chunk of my prize money will be going to the British Heart Foundation.”