A Canadian woman is attempting the world's longest triathlon, which will take her from Cancun, Mexico to Washington, DC.
Norma Bastidas may just set a world record. The 47-year-old athlete is currently running, biking, and swimming the 3,762 miles from Mexico to the United States, reports CNN . She began by swimming 95 miles in the Caribbean ocean for the first leg of the triathlon. She then hit the bike, traveling 130 miles a day to cross the United States/Mexico border. Currently, Bastidas is running her way towards the nations capital, and hopes to reach it before the end of April. Her journey broken down is a 95 mile swim, a 2,932 mile bike ride, and an easy 735 mile run.
Why is she doing this? Bastidas covered all the major human trafficking routes during her journey, and says she hopes that it will bring new attention to the issue. She's teamed up with advocacy group iEmpathize to film a documentary that will follow her progress. For Bastidas, the cause hits close to home. When she was just 17, Bastidas was kidnapped in Mexico City by men who were going to sell her into sex slavery, escaping only when the brother of one of her kidnappers felt bad for her and helped her get away. "You can't meet someone who's said, 'I've been raped, too' and go home and not care about it," says Bastidas. "What I do is that just remind people it's not just a cause. We're your family, your sisters, your daughters, your mothers."
Currently, the world record for longest triathlon is held by David Holleran, who earned the title in 1998. He swam 26 miles, biked 1,242 miles, and ran 310 miles. Bastidas will more than double his mile count.