AN INSPIRATIONAL woman is proving that age is no barrier to your dreams after being picked to represent Britain in international athletics.Amazingly Sarah Miller, of Old Norwich Road, was selected to compete in the over 30s category for the British team at the European triathlon championships despite only taking up running eight years ago.

AN INSPIRATIONAL woman is proving that age is no barrier to your dreams after being picked to represent Britain in international athletics.

Amazingly Sarah Miller, of Old Norwich Road, was selected to compete in the over 30s category for the British team at the European triathlon championships despite only taking up running eight years ago.

The gruelling triathlon event involves a swim followed straight away by a lengthy bike ride and an energy sapping long-distance run.

Mrs Miller will take part in the European championships in Edinburgh on June 16 after travelling to the World duathlon championships in Hungary on May 20.

She said: “I'm absolutely thrilled. I never thought at my age I would be representing Great Britain.”

Sarah first started running when she was 41 years old following the sudden death of her mother Pamela Strivens from a heart attack.

She joined Ipswich Jaffa running club to get fit and healthy but soon found she had a natural talent and began competing.

Over the last eight years she has gone from strength to strength, competing as a member for both the Jaffas and Ipswich Triathlon Club, completing three marathons with a personal best time under four hours, and becoming eastern region triathlon champion in 2006.

She said: “I started running when I was younger but gave it up in my teens and I was pretty idle throughout my 20s and 30s.

“When my mum died, I panicked and started running again. It has just snowballed from there.

“It has been a revelation and such a positive thing in my life.

“Once you start to win things, you get a taste for it, and I am quite a competitive person.”

The talented athlete, who was selected after competing in the Cambridge duathlon last month, manages to squeeze in her hectic training schedule in between working four days a week at the Woodbridge Clinic and being a mother to one and stepmother to three.

She said: “I am looking forward to when I can retire at 55. It will be good because then I can concentrate on my training more. Work is becoming like an inconvenience!

“I think it is unlikely I will get a medal but you never know.”

Adam Keer from Team Ipswich, which allows Sarah free access to sports facilities across the town, said “Her selection to compete within an age group category is fantastic news.”

Mrs Miller's selection comes with a hefty bill of nearly £2,000 for costs like entry, kit, travel and accommodation.

Though some of this financial burden has been eased by local company European Golf Machinery in Bucklesham, she is looking for sponsors to help her.

Mrs Miller can be contacted on 07843 436912.

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