For some runners, the prospect of running the 26.2 miles of a marathon is challenging enough. But waking up the next day and running another one—and repeating the routine for the next three and a half months—requires a particular mix of endurance, dedication, and what some would call insanity.
At least, that’s what Jacky Hunt-Broersma, an amputee endurance runner from Arizona, must have thought before taking up the sport nearly six years ago.
“I wasn’t a runner before I was amputated,” she tells CNN Sport, “I thought runners were crazy… But I kind of gradually got hooked a little bit.”
Fast forward to 2022, the 46-year-old Hunt-Broersma has just completed the feat of running 104 marathons in 104 consecutive days between January and April.
Initially setting herself a goal of 100 marathons in 100 days, she began the challenge with several unknowns – “Will my body be able to handle the miles? Will my blade hold?” – but as the weeks passed, she was surprised more than once.
“I didn’t know how my body would react, and it just showed me how strong our bodies can be,” says Hunt-Broersma. “Every day I kind of went with it and got stronger and stronger, your body is just amazing.”
The challenge, it seems, was “90% mental versus physical”. Summoning the motivation to get out of the house every day and run the marathon distance was often the biggest battle.
“You never knew what the day would bring,” adds Hunt-Broersma.
“I kind of went with the flow a little bit. Some days you just have to put one foot in front of the other and just go, and other days you feel good and it’s like you fly.”
Highs and lows
Running most marathons near his home in Gilbert (AZ), Hunt-Broersma completed a few on a treadmill and participated in the Boston Marathon in his 92nd race.
Competing on the streets of Boston was one of the high points of the challenge, but there were also many low points – particularly at the 50-marathon mark, when the thought of quitting crossed his mind.
“It was a weird moment because physically I felt good,” says Hunt-Broersma. “My body – obviously it was hurting and all, but there was nothing wrong with that; it was just my mind that was exhausted.”
“I had to fight these emotions to get through it and just say, ‘You know what, no, you can still do this. You can continue.’ And once that’s overcome, you switch to just hitting the target. It’s like you just need to get to those 100.”
Hunt-Broersma is waiting to see if his consecutive marathon record attempt is confirmed.
Before that, there was another low point 15 days earlier when she decided to split her daily run into two half marathons to have time to take care of her kids.
But after people questioned whether splitting a marathon was within the “rules” of the challenge, Hunt-Broersma felt he had no choice but to run another full marathon that night, finishing it five minutes before midnight.
“I didn’t want to get to 100, and then be told, ‘Well, actually, that one didn’t count.’ I would be mortified,” she says.
“So I was like, ‘Okay, okay, you know what? I’ll have to go out and do it.’ And that’s more or less what I did. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but I did… You learn to swallow and just do it.”
Since completing her 104th marathon, Hunt-Broersma has started the process of applying for her feat to be officially recognized by Guinness World Records, with the current record of 95, set by American Alyssa Clark in 2020.
Obtaining a ratified registration is not simple. The months-long process involves GPX files uploaded from each race, photos of the start, middle and end, video footage and a witness report.
“That process is probably more difficult than the execution part, to be honest,” suggests Hunt-Broersma jokingly.
“Feeling of freedom”
Born and raised in South Africa, Hunt-Broersma lived in England and the Netherlands before moving to the United States.
Her leg was amputated after she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma – a rare type of cancer that affects bones or the tissue around bones – in 2001. Through running, which she began 15 years later, she began to notice that your body was truly capable of.
“When I became an amputee, everything became very limited—everybody tells you, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that,’” Hunt-Broersma says. there was a sense of freedom. I felt like I was flying and doing something I didn’t think I could do.”
She started with 5K runs before progressing to distances – 10K, half marathons, marathons and now ultramarathons.
She is currently training to compete in the Leadville 100 – a 100-mile race in Leadville, Colorado known as the “Race Across The Sky” – in August and Moab 240 – a 240-mile race through Utah deserts, rocks and mountains – in October.
Competing in these iconic endurance events feels very different from the days before Hunt-Broersma started racing.
“There was a time when I felt ashamed of who I was,” she says. “I didn’t want to be an amputee. I didn’t want people to see me as different.” “And running has given me confidence – I can be who I am.”
As part of her marathon challenge, Hunt-Broersma has raised about $200,000 for Amputee Blade Runners, a charity that provides – which are often expensive – running blades to amputees.
This far exceeded her initial expectation of $10,000 – just as she surpassed her own expectations by running 104 marathons in a row.
“My running has taught me that I’m capable of so much more,” says Hunt-Broersma. “I thought it would be a great way to show people what you could do if you just stepped out of your comfort zone.”
Source: CNN Brasil
