No pain, no gain.
Every step in her latest race is painful for Vernon ultra athlete Shanda Hill.
Competing in the Bretzel Ultra Deca Triathlon race in Colmar, in northeastern France, Hill pushes on through the hurt.
The deep cut she suffered in the cycling portion, requiring stitches, a bruised bone, pain in her legs from days of biking and now running, and relentless heat, are all taking their toll on Hill. Her struggle to keep going is very difficult.
"Still, she鈥檚 moving," said Hill's support team on social media. "To finish this race, Shanda has around 600,000 steps left, give or take, to cover the remaining 367 kilometres of the run. That is what stands between her and the finish line of a Deca Triathlon. Ten Iron distance triathlons back to back, no rest days, no time off, just relentless forward motion."
Hill is only a few kilometres behind Alina Ranceva of Lithuania, and, together, these two women lead the entire field of 10 men and five women.
"What they are doing is not just rare, it's extraordinary," said Hill's crew.
The run is 422 kilometres (Vernon to Coquitlam), spread over a route of 318 laps. As of Friday, June 27, at 8:40 a.m. Pacific, Ranceva had completed 59.85 km of the run, while Hill was next at 55.85. In third place is the top man, Come Warot of France, who has run 29.26 km. Warot holds a 12 km lead on Flavio Elvedi of Switzerland.
Hill completed the swim and the bike portions of the race in 116 hours, 35 minutes, and 49 seconds.
Her sponsors for these ultra events include Rancho Vignola, The Starting Block, and Eve Volve Wellness.
