Despite the physical demands of the sport, the Bushfield native insists the mental side is equally challenging.

The 45-year-old defeated eight competitors to be crowned the open female winner of the Sports Star Awards night on Wednesday.

It was reward for Barker, who jets off to Belfast to represent Australia at the 24-hour World Championships in July.

She said her training was beginning to taper off in preparation for the event.

“It’s a lot of consistency. It’s about getting out every day and doing the kilometres,” she told The Standard.

“It’s not necessarily doing fast running, but just lots of long, steady running. You’re also trying not to get injured, because the more you run, the more chance there is of injury.

“You’ve got to build up the kilometres, but you’ve also got to keep everything in tip top shape as well. Your legs will keep going, as long as your brain keeps telling them to do that.”

Barker said she was still “pinching herself” at the prospect of representing the nation.

“I feel really privileged to have been chosen, but I’m concerned in that I ask myself ‘am I going to be able to do this justice?’,” she said.

“There’s a little bit of pressure there but the overriding feeling is the pinching myself stuff – I didn’t think I’d ever do it.” Jamie Veal took out the open male category.