World Record-Setting Triathlon Win ‘Adds Icing to the Cake,’ Says BC Athlete

B.C. resident Shanda Hill has won her third double triathlon event, which was held recently in Mexico. Jacs Spence

Canada’s top ultra-triathlete Shanda Hill has set a new world record: the 41-year-old is the only person to ever finish three double-Deca races.

She clinched the unofficial title after racing more than 4,500 kilometres in the double-Deca triathlon in San Felipe, Mexico last week. Ms. Hill surpassed German Ronny Roesler to clinch first place, taking 26 days to complete the race. In total, she swam 76 kilometres, cycled 3,600 kilometres, and ran 844 kilometres.

The win in Mexico comes just a month after completing the Deca ultra-triathlon in Buchs, Switzerland. Altogether, Hill has raced more than 9,000 kilometres since September.

A Deca ultra-triathlon is the equivalent of 20 Ironman races. That means Hill has completed the equivalent of 40 Ironman races in just two months.

Despite her accomplishments, the resident of Vernon, B.C., says winning is not as important as seeing what she is capable of.

“What I set out to do was to finish these efficiently and well, and take care of my body throughout it. And then just do my best,” she told The Epoch Times. “That’s always been my goal.”

“When you win, I think it adds icing to the cake, but the whole experience is definitely what I gravitate toward.”

Ms. Hill has been entered into the International Ultra Triathlon Association’s Hall of Fame for finishing the equivalent of 100 long-distance triathlon races in only seven years. She also holds the Female World Record for the most long-distance triathlons completed in a year.

Ms. Hill got her start in the sport after a serious injury interrupted her BMX racing activities. In 2003, she was hit by a vehicle from behind while riding her bike.

“It’s a lifetime of recovery, but it was five really hard years of putting in the time to move forward from the accident,” she said.

Ms. Hill said she tried to go back to BMX racing, but “my brain wasn’t giving me what I needed.”

“So I thought, you know, I’m going to pick and choose my battles, and it was in 2010 that I started running.”

A few years later, in 2014, a friend encouraged her to try competing in a triathlon.

“I didn’t even know what triathlon entailed because I'd been so busy with other things. I wasn’t paying much attention to that specific sport,” she explained.

Competition Becomes ‘Slippery Slope’

Ms. Hill said her friend helped her prepare for her first race: an Ironman.

“That was a good experience,“ she said. ”I finished it. I was grateful.”

But two years later a friend started telling her about another race that was more challenging.

“He was pretty convincing and he made it sound like it’s a fun time, and I ended up racing 2016 with him at the double in July. And in October, I found out there was a quintuple in 2016 in Virginia, and from there it was a slippery slope,” said Ms. Hill.

She ran her first Deca triathlon in 2017. “I’m grateful my body will do it and just keep setting new goals,” she said.

Ms. Hill has her own approach to preparing for competitions. She said she doesn’t focus on training for specific events.

“You can make yourself strong mentally, and physically in other areas, but I don’t even think it would be healthy to put on miles and miles before I race. So I do other activities,” she said.

“Before the swim, I didn’t swim at all. So it was my first swim in a year. I’m not super great at it, but I’ve been climbing my pegboard so my shoulders were able to take a beating because they were already really strong.”

Shanda Hill on Oct. 19, during the final leg of the race, with just 49 kilometres left to go. Courtesy Shanda Hill

She said she paid close attention during the races to what her body needed. She ate regularly so her blood sugar didn’t drop while she was racing.

Ms. Hill also said that hydration, nutrition, and balancing sleep were the basics of getting her through the race events. When preparing for a race, she sleeps only three hours a night—and sometimes even less—and takes 15-minute naps during the day.

Support a ‘Game-Changer’ for Competitions

Ms. Hill said her partner, Jacs Spence, is key to keeping her going. She said he has a “great outside perspective” and watches her patterns. So when he offers advice like sleeping for five hours instead of three, she listens. In fact, after taking his advice to sleep longer, she raced 130 km in one day, surpassing her 96 km goal.

“I’ve done races without a supportive partner and I think it is a game changer when you have that. I’m so grateful for it.”

She is already looking ahead to a Deca event in Brazil for next year and one in Italy as well.

Ms. Hill said her advice to others would be to “live uncomfortably.”

“If something scares you, try it,“ she said. ”If it makes you uncomfortable, try it, because the growth that comes when we challenge ourselves and we put ourselves in uncomfortable positions is phenomenal. We learn so much about our own characters.”