Vernon athlete competing in gruelling Double Deca Classic

Photo: Contributed

Vernon's Shanda Hill is attempting to become the first Canadian of either sex to complete the Double Deca - a race that is the equivalent of 20 Ironman Triathlons.

It is a race like no other in the world and Vernon's Shanda Hill is meeting the challenge head on.

Hill is attempting to become the first Canadian of either sex to complete the Double Deca - a race that is the equivalent of 20 Ironman Triathlons.

There are only 14 athletes in the world who will attempt this race and five of them are women.

The race started Oct. 5 and continues for a gruelling 28 days, during which Hill will swim 76 km, bike 3,600 km and run 844 km.

A post on her Facebook page puts those numbers into perspective.

“Her swim was the equivalent of swimming from downtown Vancouver to Texada Island.”

Hill has completed the swimming portion of the race and is wrapping up the cycling portion which is the equivalent of riding from Vancouver to Sault Ste Marie, Ont.

The race has been punishing for Hill as described on her Facebook page, “She's gone through chlorine burns from the water, sweltering heat, intense hours of fighting windstorms and the past couple days biking in the rain. Now as she approaches her run, she will have concerns that her feet stay dry so that they won't blister immediately and literally tear the skin right off her feet. Most of us can't even comprehend the effort and pain tolerance doing a race like this to represent Canada takes.”