A wounded knee couldn't stop Coquitlam's Lucy Ryan from legging out one of the world's most grueling ultra-marathons two weekends ago.
Ryan, 43, completed the BRAZIL 135-mile race in a time of 45 hours, 31 minutes. She was the lone Canadian in a field of 66 athletes from around the world to compete in this invitation-only event, with others competitors hailing from Germany, the U.S., Costa Rica, Slovenia, India, Italy, Argentina, Taiwan, the Middle East and Brazil.
BRAZIL 135 is a 135-mile (217 km) race that follows the most difficult segment of the Caminho da Fé or Path of the Faith, the longest Pilgrimage in Brazil. It travels over the Mantiqueira Mountains, a sub range of the Andes Cordillera. With 30,000 feet of cumulative ascent and 28,000 feet of cumulative descent, and only ten flat miles in the race, upon reaching the finish line the runner has completed a course that is analogous to climbing up and down Mt. Everest.
Having sustained a ligament strain in her knee while skiing on New Years day, Ryan was slightly hampered but determined to complete the race under the 48-hour cut-off time.
After the injury, she immediately undertook a battery of physiotherapy sessions and credits the support of her crew of volunteers from Brazil for getting her to the finish line.
Her crew included legendary Brazilian ultra-athlete Sergio Cordeiro, who is a two-time world champion for double deca Ironman (20 ironman's in 20 days).
Ryan's growing resume of ultra endurance events includes: Ultraman Canada (a three-day triathlon covering 512 km); nine Ironman races; four 100km races; and the Javelina Jundred (100 miles).
After staying a few days in Rio de Janeiro to recuperate, Lucy intends to jump right back into training in order to complete a busy 2012 race schedule.
In addition to the usual marathons and half ironman races, Lucy plans to apply for the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley in July.
She is also registered to compete at the Ironman Mt. Tremblant in Quebec and Ironman Canada in Penticton on back-to-back weekends in August.
In an effort to give back to her sport and to promote it further, Lucy has teamed up with Steve Brown of Penticton (Ultraman Canada race director) to create a new 100 km ultra marathon and relay to honour race legend Steve King.
The inaugural Steve King 100 km Classic will have runners racing from Princeton to Summerland on Sept. 15, 2012. The Steve King Classic is B.C.'s only 100 km road race and will draw ultra runners from around western North America and beyond. The relay race will be open to teams comprising any number of runners between two and eight.
Future plans for this ultra athlete include the seven-day Marathon Des Sables in the Morocco Desert and the Ultraman World Championship in Hawaii.
