Profiles

Chellaston's Gill Watson could have been born with wheels, rather than legs.

But then paddles, ropes and a compass would also have been useful additions for the 43-year-old fitness instructor.

Listen to Gill wax lyrical about her latest adventures or her forthcoming challenge and you're left with the distinct impression she was born to compete.

Speaking to BBC Radio Derby shortly after taking part in Ireland's World Series Adventure Race, The Turas, Gill told Ross Fletcher how she and her team-mates competed day and night, non-stop, for 90 hours across 11 disciplines: "We started in sea kayaks ... then orienteering, abseiling, ascending, Canadian canoeing - a bit of everything.. but it's fantastic!"

And that 'everything' also included running, mountain biking, horse riding, navigating megalithic monuments, rafting, rope courses and rowing.

Gill competing in The Turas

It was hard going for Gill once tiredness kicked in and she started suffering from hallucinations: "At the end I suddenly started to realise there was one team member missing. Or was there?

"And it was me! But I couldn't fathom it out where this other person had gone - and it was me!

"Your brain just goes totally weird. You see faces in rocks and you're stepping over things 'cos you think it's there but it's not!"

Her team of four finished 9th out of 18. Some teams failed get a rank at all. There were compensations though - Gill described the scenery as "stunning" and the Irish hospitality as "second to none".

A few days after that event, Gill set out on the Ace Race Dirty Weekend in the Scottish Borders: "A short 20-hour one, this time," joked Gill.

Only 20km running, 120km cycling, 16km orienteering and 12km kayaking! - Though Gill would be the first to admit she's less than keen on kayaking and other sports involving water.

But this was only her latest adventure.

Among her triumphs are winning the BBC show SAS Jungle: Are You Tough Enough in Borneo in 2002, going to the Arctic to represent GB in the Fulda Challenge in 2004, winning Gael Force, a 36-hour race in Ireland, in 2006 and coming 5th in XPD World series qualifier in Estoril, Portugal, in 2007.

The full list, though, is extensive considering that she only started running about 10 years ago - and only had her first taste of extreme sports in 2000 when she entered the Hi-Tec Adventure Race.

Yet the love of extreme sports is hard for Gill in some ways - being a single mum with a teenage daughter and having no sponsorship means life can be tough at times: "I'm selling stuff on Ebay just to afford the petrol to go up to Scotland."

But quitting isn't something Gill is accustomed to - she wants to keep going and win more!