Shanda Hill is giving it all she has.
The Vernon ultra athlete has been racing non-stop for over a week as the sole woman competing in the Brazil Ultra Tri Deca race.
A week ago she swam 38 kilometres before hopping on her bike for five days, riding lap after lap until she completed 1,800 kilometres. Since Wednesday afternoon, she's been working on the running portion of the gruelling race.
According to her partner, Jacs Spence, Hill had completed 162 of the 422 kilometres she needed to finish the race as of Friday morning.
"As I watch her lap after lap, I see how much she is energized by the other athletes, the support crews, and by people from all across Brazil who have come just to meet her," Spence said on social media.
"We have both been amazed by how many people have approached us saying they regularly follow her posts. One man this morning, and you will see him in her stories, ran all the way from the city just for the chance to meet her and share how his sister has been so inspired by Shanda’s journey that she now wants to start doing triathlons."
Friday morning, before finishing her day's run, Hill gave two of her jerseys to two female athletes. Spence said one of them signed up for a 100-kilometre run just for the opportunity to run alongside Hill.
"Shanda has been in tears of joy all morning, overwhelmed by these incredible displays of kindness and respect," Spence said.
Hill has no interest in fame, according to her partner. She only wants to do what she loves and connect with others while doing it.
"But it is clear that what she set out to do has become something far greater than she ever imagined when she began this journey to push her body to its limits and explore the depths of humanity within herself," Spence said.
He added it's hard to witness the pain Hill endures in these races, but he sees it on the rare occasions when she lifts what he calls "the veil of strength."
"She knows these races bring pain. She knows there will be hard times. But it is her acceptance of that and her decision to move forward anyway that separates her from almost everyone else in this world," Spence said.
On Saturday, Spence and Hill witnessed history in the making when Polish athlete Jurand Czabanski achieved "what few believed possible."
Czabanski became the new IUTA Deca Ultra Triathlon world record holder at the Brazil Ultra Tri, finishing in 169 hours, 53 minutes and 33 seconds — almost 13 hours faster than the previous record holder, Kenneth Vanthuyne of Belgium, set in 2022.
"On day six and a half of the race, I asked Jurand how much he had slept. He simply smiled and told me, 'seven and a half hours.' That was all the rest he had taken up to that point. An absolutely exceptional performance by an extraordinary human being," Spence said.
This is Hill's first event since she became the first and only woman to complete the inaugural South Africa Deca in late March.
