Pitt completed the swim in one hour and 16 minutes, the 180km bike ride in a time of 7 hours and 13 minutes, finally finishing the 42.2 km run in just over 5 hours making her competition time a total of 13 hours and 24 minutes. Turia Pitt on the swim leg of the Port Macquarie Ironman competition. Credit:Peter Gleeson On Friday Pitt said she was motivated by the desire to prove she is fitter now than before the devastating ultra marathon through Western Australia's Kimberley region in 2011 when she got so badly burnt. Caught in a fast-moving bushfire, doctors gave her the only slimmest chances of survival. She ended up spending 864 days in hospital, enduring more than 100 surgeries, had fingers amputated and had to learn to walk again. "What gets me out of bed is just getting back to that really compelling reason of why I wanted to do ironman – just to prove that I'm fitter now than I was in the ultra marathon," she said.

Incredibly, the inspirational speaker and author says her quality of life is higher than before the accident. Turia Pitt with her partner Michael Hoskin. "People never know what they're going to do in a situation until they're put in it," she said. "Some people might have given up, some people might have gone on to live a great life. I think my quality of life now is probably even a little bit better than it was before the fire." Turia Pitt as an inspiration speaker with students at Gwynneville. Credit:Andy Zakeli

Pitt says she discovered just how strong she is through dealing with her injuries. "It was tough at the start when I had to rely a lot on my partner Michael," she said. Turia Pitt is competing in her first ironman triathlon since suffering horrific burns in 2011. Credit:Matthew Attard What gets me out of bed is just getting back to that really compelling reason of why I wanted to do ironman – just to prove that I'm fitter now than I was in the ultra marathon. Turia Pitt, 28 "My self-esteem has always been closely tied with my physical abilities, so when I couldn't do anything I felt like s---.

"Now that I'm back running and playing sports and swimming I feel more like me. Turia Pitt preparing for the bike leg of the Port Macquarie Ironman in May. Credit:Peter Gleeson "What will get me through is just thinking about things in my life that I'm grateful for. Grateful to be able to experience the day, grateful for Michael, for my mum, for this beautiful country we live in and grateful that I'm still alive and can still experience the day." Tim Reed won the men's event with a time of eight hours and 16 minutes followed by David Dellow six minutes later. Australian Beth Gerdes was the first woman to finish in a time of nine hours and 10 minutes, followed by New Zealand's Michelle Bremer three minutes later.

Pitt will now spend three weeks recovering before she heads to PNG to walk the Kokoda Track as part of her role as an ambassador for charity Interplast, which provides free reconstructive surgery to people in the Asia-Pacific.