Frost said the Port Macquarie card was the Australian Ironman and half-Ironman championships.

“It’s one of the toughest and biggest races in Australia,” she said.

“The boys have all been training very well this year. So far no injuries, so I’m hoping that they all get what they’re looking for, which is probably personal bests.

“We’ll see just what pans out on the day because anything can happen. It’s a long day and you’ve just got to take it as it comes.”

Frost has entered the race three times and said Port Macquarie was her favourite race. She described it as an honest course with a tough bike leg.

“You have really got to work for it to do well,” she said.

“It’s my favourite course. It’s a good, hard course, and I’m looking forward to it.”

A competitor at last year’s event, Hilton said his training was as good as it is going to get.

“I’ve done more than last year, so, yeah. I’m doing a lot with Corey this year, so I’m hoping to go a bit quicker,” Hilton said.

“Last year I finished and I was happy with that. I felt as if I could do a bit better, so I ramped the training up a bit more this year and hopefully go a bit quicker.”

It will be Borthwick’s fifth time to the event and he thinks he will finish on the day.

“It’s hard enough to finish and that’s all I want to do,” he said.

Borthwick trains every day for a total of about 15 to 20 hours a week with very few days off.

“Between swim, bike and run there’s not much time for anything else,” he said.

Borthwick described Inverell as a great place to train.

“It’s the best place for riding a bike, good hilly terrain around here, nice and quiet for running on the road and a good quality pool and the dam for open water swims,” he said.