‘Just wants to get it done:’ Hill in final days of Double Deca

Shanda Hill is just a few days away from making history.

At last report, the Vernon ultra athlete has 147 kilometres to go in her run to finish the 28-day Double Deca triathlon in Mexico.

Hill was sick from food poisoning for a couple of days, but is feeling better and is determined to finish by Saturday, when she would be the first Canadian to complete the gruelling race.

Her mom, Arleigh Hill, said Shanda just wants to “get it done,” and finish the event that has taken a toll on her body.

“She says she’s taped-up pretty good because of everything. She’s got tape everywhere it could possible hurt,” Hill told Vernon Matters.

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Hill started the world’s longest triathlon on Oct. 5, and participants must complete the three elements by Nov. 2.

“Shanda has now raced for 25 days straight. She has swum 76 km, biked 3,600 km, and ran 697 km. Hill has only 147 km left to run over the next couple of days to complete her goal. This Ultra race is called a Double Deca and is the equivalent of 20 Ironman Triathlons. There are only eight athletes in the world who are on course to complete this race, four of them being women,” said Shanda’s spokesperson Jacs Spence.

Arleigh Hill says sometimes she just can’t believe her daughter’s will to compete.

“It’s just incredible, but she knows there are so many people out there praying and thinking about her, all over the world. She will have lots of stories to tell when she gets back, lots of things that went on there.”

One of those stories could be about the eight-foot silverback snake she saw on one of the trails while running.

“She said it was right across the whole trail,” laughed Arleigh.

At last report, Hill was in fifth place out of ten competitors, and second among the women.

You can get updates on Shanda on her Facebook page.