Photograph courtesy of A Step Ahead Prosthetics.
Endurance runner Amy Palmiero-Winters finished the Ultraman Florida triathlon, held February 21-23 in Orlando, to become the first athlete with a prosthesis to complete an extreme triathlon; she has a left transtibial amputation, the result of a motorcycle crash in 1997. On the first day of the race, Palmiero-Winters completed the 6.2-mile swim in just over four hours (4:00:51) and the initial 90-mile bike ride in a little more than six hours (6:11:10). Day two consisted entirely of a 170-mile bike ride, which she finished in less than 12 hours (11:38:28). Palmiero-Winters crossed the finish line on day three after running 52.4 miles in less than 12 hours (11:54:40). Her total time for the 321.6-mile, three-day event was 33:44:09.
“This was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done,” she was quoted as saying in a press release that was posted to PRLog. “But, as always, I wanted to show others that no matter what, it’s always possible to live a life without limitations. I also give a tremendous amount of credit to Erik Schaffer [CP] and A Step Ahead Prosthetics [Hicksville, New York] for building the special prosthetic legs that I use to compete. I couldn’t have done it without the custom-built running and cycling legs they provided.”
