The temperature is sweltering in northeastern France, where Vernon's Shanda Hill is taking on yet another feat of human exertion.
Competing in the Bretzel Ultra Deca Triathlon race in Colmar, Hill is pushing on and holding down second place.
"Shanda said the heat today is taking a serious toll on everyone, with temperatures climbing into the mid-30s. After days of racing with little rest, it has really started to catch up," Hill's support team said on social media Saturday, June 28.
"She told us that at this point, she just needs to finish the race, no matter what place she ends up in. The goal now is simply getting across that line."
To this point in the race, Hill has swum 38 kilometres, biked 1,800 km and is now 134 km into the running portion — all done in just over 153 hours on the course.
Hill is battling heat stroke, saying it "absolutely takes everything out of you," her team said. On top of that, her ankle is extremely swollen and she's struggling to process fluids. Given these challenges, she made the decision to pull out of the heat for a few hours and planned to resume her race once the temperature cools.
"Even with all this, Shanda is still in second place overall, with about 290 kilometres left on the run to reach the finish of this massive Deca," her team said.
"It is a hard day in Colmar, but sometimes survival means listening to your body and finding another way to keep moving forward."
