FIVE Orange athletes survived a physical torture test like few others in Port Macquarie on Sunday.

Aidan Whiteley, David Selwood, Tony Selwood, Erika Barton and Dan Benton travelled to Port Macquarie for the Ironman Australia Triathlon race, swimming 3.8km and cycling 180.2km before running a marathon (42.2km) along with 1500 other competitors from all over the world.

Barton, the only female competitor from Orange, finished in a time of 12 hours, 33 minutes and 32 seconds.

She believes the race is extremely unique and just to finish was something special.

“It was an amazing day, there is no other feeling like it,” said Barton, who finished 18th in the women’s 30-34 years category.

“Towards the end it became about finishing the race, survival really. It was probably easier to do the marathon after the bike ride and the swim because all I was thinking about was finishing the race, not about starting a marathon.”

Whiteley finished the race in 12:25.33 and performed strongly throughout the triathlon, but he was not the first Orange representative to cross the finish line, with Dan Benton completing the gruelling event in 12:06.13.

Father and son combination Tony and David Selwood finished the race in 14:18.00 and 13:26.48 respectively.

David Selwood finished 18th overall in the men’s 18-24 years’ category and was in fourth position in his age group after scorching through the swim leg in just over 54 minutes.

Barton said Benton’s effort was even more notable due to injury.

“Dan had a stress fracture in his foot six weeks ago and was restricted to swim training for a long time, so it was a really good effort from him,” Barton said.

Whiteley was also impressive, finishing his swim in 1:14, his bike ride in 6:13 and the marathon in 4:57, believing he could easily have finished with a faster time.

“I went alright on the bike but I was probably happiest with my swim. It’s not usually my strongest part but I did alright at it, I think,” Whiteley said.