BONNIE van Wilgenburg admitted she exceeded her expectations by winning the Loch-Gu-Loch trail running event in Scotland.

The Oxford-based athlete, partnered by Scottish triathlete Graeme Stewart, not only beat other mixed teams, but also all-male pairs to clinch the overall victory.

Van Wilgenburg and Stewart completed the 8km swim and 30-mile run in 7hrs 34 mins.

The event involved swimming and running between lakes, lochs, land and islands.

Despite only heading into the competition with the expectation of challenging for a top-three place in the mixed pairs, the duo found themselves challenging with the leaders.

And having put themselves in contention, they ultimately profited from the frontrunners missing their navigation sign and going off course.

Van Wilgenburg said: “We had no idea what to expect because neither of us had done a swim-run event.

“I had never swam that far and Graeme had never run more than a marathon so it was just a bit of fun.”

But when they found themselves near the front, van Wilgenburg’s competitive side came to the fore.

She said: “At one point I got a bit excited.

“I was trying to push the pace but Graeme said just race within yourself because it was quite early on.

“I would have preferred the leaders to have not gotten lost because we still believe we would have had a chance of winning at the end.

“I did feel sorry for them but nonetheless we are still proud of our achievement.”