Shanda Hill has her support crew dropping their jaws.
The Vernon ultra athlete – as of Wednesday, Oct. 18, 7 a.m. Pacific – pulled to within 19 kilometres of race leader Ronny Roessler of Germany at the Double Deca Triathlon race in Mexico.
Then she took the lead, by one kilometre, on Thursday.
“How can someone with as many injuries as she has, and who has been running, swimming, and biking for more than two months, accomplish this?” wrote her crew on social media.
“The lioness is out. And she is hungry.”
Hill told her crew Tuesday night she would make them proud.
In the past 24 hours, Hill has ran 96 kilometres compared to Roessler’s 53. And in the 12 hours leading up to 7 a.m., Hill gained 12 more kilometres on Roessler.
Hill is trying to become the first person to ever complete three Double Deca Triathlons. Each double deca includes a 76 km swim, 3,600 km cycle, and finishes with an 844 km run.
As of Wednesday, Roessler had completed 674 kilometres of the run, Hill 655 kms.
The third and final athlete in the race, Tsai Ming-Yi of Taiwan, has completed 378 kms on the run.
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