Lauren De Crescenzo, a former professional now working as a research assistant at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), broke the women's record for climbing Everest by climbing Hog Pen Gap in Georgia 24 times in 9 hours 57 minutes. The American beat the previous record holder, Katie Hall's time by about 4 minutes.

"Yesterday was the hardest day of my life so far," de Crescenzo said in a report published in VeloNews (opens in new tab). The report states that her efforts were to raise funds for Craig Hospital, where she was treated after suffering a traumatic brain injury four years ago.

De Crescenzo was injured in a crash at the San Dimas stage race in 2016. She was racing for the Visit Dallas-DNA team at the time and spent more than a week in intensive care before recovering at Craig Hospital, world-renowned for its spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation.

"My favorite charity is Craig Hospital. When he [fiancé Jim] told me about his idea, I said, 'Craig! We can raise money, we can get FOMO, and I knew we had to do it."

"I've been working with the hospital for a few years now, and I've been very happy.

De Crescenzo used the short side of the Hogpen Gap on Sunday, which has an average gradient of 9.83%, to climb 8,848 meters in 179 km. She told Velonews that her average power was 193, double the climb she has done before.

Riders compete in the Everest Race, officially run by Australia's Hells 500, in which they compete to go as fast as possible over 8,848 meters (the height of Everest) in just one climb.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Hall set a new women's record by climbing 8,848 meters in 10 hours and 1 minute in Bonny Doon, outside Santa Cruz, California.

U.S. cross-country mountain bike champion Keegan Swenson set an unofficial best time of 7 hours 40 minutes at the Everest Challenge outside Salt Lake City, Utah, in mid-May.

Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) initially broke the record by climbing 8,848 meters in 7 hours 28 minutes on an 11.6-km climb near Etztal, Austria.

Other Everest Challenge finishers include Ruth Winder (Trek Segafredo) and James Piccoli (Israel Startup Nation).