It must feel odd to win your age group or compete in your first Ironman for three years and still feel disappointed when you cross the finishing line.

But that was the overriding emotion for both Marie Lyne Dore and Sharon Craig after they completed Ironman Indian Wells last weekend.

For Craig it was only her fourth Ironman and her first since 2021 after she was diagnosed with a rare injury that prevented her from competing from two years. So after crossing the line to finish fifth in her age group in 6hr 32min 10sec, you would expect the feeling of elation, but the 64-year-old felt far from it.

“I thought it would give me a sense of joy and pride more than it actually did to be honest,” Craig said.

“It was really weird but I was just disappointed with my run. For a half-marathon, 2hr 13min is not bad after all that happened to me, but I still felt disappointed with everything.

“The run was on the golf course and you couldn’t get into any momentum because of the hills and you had to run through sand and woodchips. I was disappointed with my time.

“The swim wasn’t great and the safety around the lake was so good, but they had so many paddle boards and there were people clinging off them everywhere and that created a little bit of panic for me.”

Three years ago Craig was unable to run further than a mile without the need to stop after feeling severe pain in one of her leg muscles and it took some time before a talented doctor in Bermuda was able to figure out the problem.

“Someone I knew was training for the New York Marathon and I said I would keep them company for ten miles but in the end I couldn’t run one,” Craig said.

“I’d run a short distance and then my left quad would really ache and it would be a pain that would stop me from going any further until I had stretched it out.”

It was only due to the persistence of Jonathan Power at Centre of Sports and Orthopaedic Medicine in Bermuda that it was solved. Power has since left the company to fill the role of club doctor at Liverpool Football Club.

“We did all these tests and he couldn’t work it out,” Craig said.

“But he met with different physios on a zoom call and they all talk about these weird and wonderful cases and people that they can’t fix.

“He then got told to read a paper from the Mayo Clinic and he sent me there. They discovered a rare problem with my iliac artery, where it was closing slightly rather than opening when you are doing excessive exercise. I had to have an operation in July and they put in an implant to keep it open. A year later and here I am doing another Ironman.”

Dore finished first in the 40-44 age group and 204th overall after finishing in 4:49:10 but was still left feeling frustrated with her performance.

“It didn’t go well because I was really cold on the bike and I didn’t know I was in first,” Dore said.

“I had no clue about my position because I didn’t see anybody during the race. I had a good swim but it was really cold and because I’ve been living in Bermuda for 11 years, I’m not used to swimming in 7C.

“I should have put on some clothes but I’m super competitive and told myself I would go faster if I was cold, but I couldn’t feel my legs. I was hoping to do ten minutes faster but it is what it is. I can’t complain, I won my age group, but I had different expectations.”

It’s been a year of triumph for Dore, who has won a string of titles and she can look back on 2024 with a sense of pride.

“I’m happy because I won the Masters Time Trial in Bermuda, I won the half Ironman overall woman in Boston. I won the Olympic Sprint Triathlon National Championships in Bermuda and I did two half-marathons,” Dore said.

“It was a busy year and I’m proud of what I achieved. I’m going to do a full Ironman in Lake Placid in July. I’m going to take a couple of weeks really easily and then get back into it.