Bodybuilder Kathrine Bartlett from Millbrook is Britain's strongest mum who's hoping to win Arnold Schwarzenegger championship

By day she is doing the school run and juggling part-time jobs like any other mum-of-two.

But by night, Kathrine Bartlett is transformed into Britain’s Strongest Woman – a title she has won just three years after she stumbled into the world of body building and more incredibly, while suffering from a hernia.

The 31-year-old from Millbrook is the first to admit that if someone had told her three years ago that she would be competing on the world stage of body building she would have laughed in their faces.

Having not come from a very sporting background, it was only by chance that Kathrine was introduced to the world of weights at the gym.

But since then she hasn’t looked back and has taken the body building world by storm.

Last weekend she was crowned Britain’s strongest woman in the lightweight category – undertaking five gruelling challenges that saw her lifting 180kg weights – three times her body weight.

Kathrine, who is 5ft 6ins and weighs nine-and-a-half stone, said: “I only missed out on the title by a point last year, my first attempt, but I am glad that happened because it gave me the determination to come back fighting this year and I’ve trained so much harder that I do feel I am deserving of it now.”

Her win, despite suffering from a hernia, means she will go on to compete in the Arnold Classic in America – an international championship founded by the ultimate body building legend, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Kathrine's fiancee, Paul Brett, Carson Bartlett 5, Kathrine and Eilise Bartlett 12.

But it’s not all glitz and glamour for the country’s strongest mum, as less than 48 hours after her incredible win, she was back doing the school run with her children Eilise, 12 and Carson, five.

Although unlike other mums, she doesn’t have to worry if the car breaks down, “I’ll just get the harness out and pull the car to school,” Kathrine jokes, as pulling a 150kg vehicle was part of her challenges at the weekend.

It is tough work juggling family life, various part-time jobs and up to 16 hours of training a week, but Kathrine, who is set to marry her fiancé Paul Brett in September, feeds off the “crazy lifestyle”.

She was introduced to the body building life after a friend at her gym, told her about Spartans.

She joined a strong woman class just for a hobby but within months she was competing on the national stage and having got so close to winning the title on her first attempt – an astonishing feat for someone without a sporting background – she grew hungry for more.

She added: “It has been a rollercoaster ride but I love it.

“Initially some of my friends and family didn’t know why I was doing it and they all thought I would become this monstrous woman, but now they are all so proud of me and that means so much.

“It is a massive confidence boost and although I do get some negative comments, it just empowers me to go even further.

“I have had an amazing couple of years. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be doing this but competing has opened up a whole new world to me and I have met some incredible people along the way.

“It is like a bit of an addiction for me. I do get a buzz when I feel my muscles aching because I know I’ve worked them hard.

"Hopefully one day I can be the world champion.”