Shangrila Rendon is a 2x Triathlon Guinness World Record Holder (2020 & 2015), Triathlon Performance Coach, Best Selling Author, Life Strategist, Motivational Speaker and Professional Endurance Athlete.

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She coaches busy high achievers at all levels from beginner to winning local races, as well as qualifying for top races, specifically Boston Marathon, Abbott World Marathon Majors, IRONMAN World Championship Kona, Ultraman, USA Triathlon Sprint & Olympic National Championships, multi-day triathlons and ultra cycling/running races.

Shangrila had a horrible past—she was sexually abused for 14 years as a child and was sexually assaulted at 24. She considered herself a living dead and was hopeless. She lost trust and hated everyone, including her loved ones. She was diagnosed with extreme depression, PTSD, and struggled with eating disorder for 10 years. She was also abusing alcohol; she didn’t care about her life, health, finances, or safety. She used all of these to numb herself from the painful emotions and flashbacks that she wanted to escape from. That was her rock bottom.

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She discovered triathlon and used it as a fuel to change and move forward from her past. She was a non-runner, non-cyclist, and non-swimmer at 24 yet she became an inspirational athlete regardless. She trained hard, mastered it and aimed high.

 

From walking for an hour every day to and from her first job in the U.S. at age 17, and spending 15 minutes on a treadmill before work at 19 years old, having no athletic background whatsoever, Shangrila Rendon transformed herself into a world class athlete. She did not have a bike, was afraid of water and did not know how to swim until the age of 29. 

 

Her journey may have started slow as she was juggling being a medical device engineer full-time and completing a Master's degree at the same time. However, she was fuelled by guts and driven by pure determination to leave behind her horrible past. 

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Coach Shangrila has been featured in Triathlete Magazine, The New York Times, CBS Los Angeles, NBC News, KCal News, Fox News, Outside Magazine, Endurance Sports & Fitness Magazine, RT News and GMA 7's news.

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Shangrila Rendon has: 

- Completed 23 full Ironman triathlon distances in 34 days (55 miles swim, 2500 miles cycling, 600 miles run). Nine (9) of those were under 14 hours. Fastest time for this record was 13:10:24 (During her 20th Ironman).

- Completed 8 Ironman races in 8 consecutive days in Switzerland (19.2 mi swim, 896 mi bike, 209.6 mi run, in 2016). 

- 1st and ONLY female Double vEVERESTING Finisher (59,058’ ascent) July, 2020

- Female Champion and 1st place woman (21-39) IUTA World Cup winner year 2015

- Completed Uberman race (2016)

- Raced Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme in Russia 2017

- Qualified and participated in Ultraman World Championship in Kona (2018)

 

Besides being an athlete, she is also an endurance and triathlon coach, who loves helping people see and achieve their true potential in sports. 

 

"My athletes' goals become my goals. It is rewarding for me to witness my athletes improve and reach their dream goals in sports while still maintaining a balanced life, with no injuries and in good health."

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Shangrila Rendon's personal mission is to represent and stands up for the abused women and children everywhere, bringing awareness to their cause, creating inspiration and motivation in those who are too afraid to speak.

 

Shangrila says: “I want to give hope to other survivors with a similar past that we can all transform our lives to something amazing and that life is (or can be) beautiful. I want to show that dreams do come true even if you don’t believe it at times of unbearable struggle.”

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