Among the competitive athletes taking part in the professional Avanti Plus Hellfire Cup this week is top Cook Islands mountain biker Myra Moller.

The course for the Hellfire cup consists of gravel road, fire trail, some single tracks and some descents.

Participants are aged from 16 to 50-plus vying to take out the coveted winners’ titles and cash prizes totalling $60,000 plus a giveaway pool.

Athletes compete over four days in the mountain biking event in South East Tasmania which started on Thursday November 21 and will run till November 24.

Born and raised in Wellington, Myra’s Cook Islands heritage is from the Bishop family.

She is the daughter of Teniinii Bishop and Gary Moller.

The Moller name is synonymous with sporting success.

Aunty is Lorraine Moller, renowned marathon runner and Olympic bronze medallist.

Her father Gary is a health and fitness specialist and an accomplished endurance athlete himself.

The sports-mad athlete has raced around the world including Chile, Austria, Australia, Colorado and New Mexico.

One of the first achievements on her impressive sports profile was second place in the 1500m at the Rarotonga National Athletics Games in 1994 as a 10 year old.

For the Highland Fling the elite athlete completed a 116km course and was one of the only competitors able to ride all the climbs the race threw at her.

Placing third behind top Australian cyclists Jo Bennett and Peta Mullens, Moller is happy with her time and is adamant she’ll surprise her competitors at their next event, the Hellfire Cup.

She says she used the race for experience and to build her endurance base, careful to defeat the distance.

“I’m now confident with my racing equipment and ready to add on to this experience at the Hell Fire Cup which has attracted professional athletes for me to test against,” she says.

Moller also completed in the recent Cranky Penguin Mountain Bike Marathon and the CamelBak Highland Fling in Australia.

She took out first place in the Open Female Division for the 70km Cranky Penguin Marathon finishing with an impressive one minute lead on second place winner Anna Kallonen.

The website for the Cranky Penguin marathon describes the one-day event as challenging but also a massive adventure, and Moller could not agree more.

She says the marathon is the toughest one yet, seeing her running with her bike on her shoulder over planks to cross steams, rivers and up muddy hill sides.

She said the dangerous descents burnt out disc brakes and described the climbing as much more “extreme” than any race she’s come across.

Nearing the end of the gruelling course Moller was unsure of where exactly the finish line was, saying it was Chinese water torture – however she made it to the end and rode away with first place.

“Just when I thought I was turning into the race village to glory, another little arrow pointed me back up a steep hill on another detour,” she says.

Expecting more surprise detours Moller arrived at the finish line looking confused, but she explains it was definitely a relief to finish.

Moller says both races were great preparation for the Hellfire Cup.