Last month, the South African amputee athlete Jacky Hunt-Broersma achieved her goal of completing 104 marathons in 104 days, setting an unofficial world record.
After losing her left lower leg to a rare form of cancer she found her passion in running. “Running is something, even though I wasn’t doing it before surgery, you kind of take it for granted, because you could just put a pair of shoes on and go,” she explains.
Beginning her Marathon quest in Arizona in January, she covered the classic 26.2-mile (42.2-km) route planned out near her home. Since then, she’s run day in and day out to cover 2,672 2,672 miles (4,300 km), the equivalent of running from New York City to Mexico City, or London to Kyiv and back!
“I’m just happy that I made it - I can’t believe it,” Hunt-Broersma exclaimed. “The best thing was the incredible support I’ve received from people around the world who’ve reached out, telling me how this has inspired them to push themselves.”
Thanks to her remarkable determination and huge social media presence gained from the run, Hunt-Broersma raised around $192,000 to help fellow amputee blade runners get the expensive prostheses they need to participate in the sport.
She hopes that her incredible act will inspire people everywhere to push themselves to complete difficult challenges. Her next endeavour will be a Utah-based ultra-race over mountain terrain in October.