Coquitlam woman finishes Death Valley ultramarathon

A 44-year-old Coquitlam woman has conquered what's called the toughest foot-race in the world.

This week, Lucy Ryan ran the 217-kilometre Badwater Ultramarathon in just over 38 hours, 35 minutes.

It starts in Death Valley, Calif., and finishes 2,500 metres up Mount Whitney. Temperatures can exceed 55 C.

Ryan says her body and her feet held up well.

"[It was] absolutely fine," she said. "I only changed shoes once through the whole thing and I only have two blisters and that's it. Honestly, my body was just fine."

Ryan says she's wanted to do the race since 1996.

"I was built for this stuff," she said. "I was meant to run. I'm not fast, I'm a slow runner, but I can just keep going forever."

Ryan was the only Canadian woman in the invitation-only race of 96 people. She is the ninth Canadian woman to complete the race.

Next month, Ryan plans to do two Ironman triathlons on back-to-back weekends.