Lewis was up for the task, earning her first full-distance 140.6 mile Ironman triathlon victory in a time of 9:01:54. She finished just 1:32 behind the course record, which was set by Sarah True in 2022.

While Lewis has won multiple Ironman 70.3 events and placed well in the handful of full Ironman triathlons, none were bigger than her performance on Sunday.

“Winning an Ironman is something that is very special,” she said. “They don’t come very easily at all and I think it’s something that I’ll remember forever.”

With more than 2,400 athletes entering Mirror Lake at the start of Sunday’s triathlon, Lewis didn’t fare well in the water. She was only able to record the 249th fastest time, which dropped her well behind the leaders.

“The swim was fairly standard for me,” she said in a statement. “It was slower than my usual performances, but I still knew that I had a real fighting chance because this course suits me in terms of the hilly nature of the bike and the run. I just wanted to go out and ride really hard and I did.”

After posting the top overall time in the biking portion, Lewis knew she was in solid position to win the race since she runs hills so well.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘Allow yourself to thrive.’ It’s kind of hokey, but to me it made sense during the day because it can be easy to just hold back, but I knew that I would thrive in some of those downhill sections and some of those rollers,” she said on Sunday. “Then I just started relaxing on the climbs and just tried to float up the climbs as best as possible and I was catching up. I just had to keep telling myself, ‘Just keep what you’re doing and focus on your nutrition.'”

On the second lap of the run, Lewis passed two Ironman triathletes before she caught up to the race leader Sarah True on River Road in Lake Placid near Intervalle Way. With about 8 miles left in the race, True was out of energy and had started walking. She subsequently dropped out of the race.

Jackie Hering placed second overall in 9:06:26, while last year’s Ironman Lake Placid champion, Alice Alberts, finished in third with a time 9:10:36.

“This field was really stacked,” Lewis said. “I mean there was incredible amount of talent in this field, it certainly gives me a lot of confidence going into (the Ironman World Championships).”

Lewis, as well as the top four women’s and four men’s professional athletes, earned qualifying slots to the Ironman World Championship. The women’s championship race will take place in Nice, France on Sept. 22, and the men’s race will be in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on Oct. 26.