Rest. Massage. Neither one helping diminish the pain ravaging Vernon ultra athlete Shanda Hill.
She is now in the run portion of the 2023 Swissultra Double Deca Triathlon in Buchs, having earlier completed the required 76 kilometre swim discipline and finishing the 3,600 km bike portion on the weekend. Hill then immediately started the final discipline, 844 kilometres of running.
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, her crew shared a story on social media about Hill falling from a distance through a roof three years ago, landing on a piece of lumber which severed her glute muscle. She’s had issues ever since, to go with a physical dent reminder in her glute from where the incident happened.
That injury, said her crew, has come back to haunt her, taking a more extended break than usual in the hope some rest would help rehabilitate the injury.
“She had it massaged but she said she’s in considerable pain, so much that it hurts as much as the day it happened to her,” wrote her team.
On Labour Day Monday evening, Hill felt optimistic if she changed her running style, she could labour through the pain.
“She is doing the best she can, but she said at this point is almost unbearable,” wrote her team.
As of Tuesday afternoon, according the race website, Hill has run 311 kilometres and has 533 kilometres left, which is like running from Vernon to close to Calgary. She and her crew hope the pain subsides for her so the final kilometres won’t be excruciatingly painful.
Hill remains in second place among the four women competitors. She is 134 kilometres behind Alexandra Meixner of Austria. Marion Dang of Germany has moved to within 29 kilometres of Hill.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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