People amazed as 'humbling' amputee runs 104 marathons in 104 days — after 'voice' in her head almost made her quit

Virgin Radio

4 May 2022, 13:23

An inspirational woman who lost a leg to cancer has wowed the public with her ambition to break the Guinness World Records title for running 104 consecutive marathons over 104 days.

South African-born Jacky Hunt-Broersma, who runs with a carbon fibre prosthetic, started her mission in January and finished it on Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona. She only took up running after her left leg was amputated in 2001 due to a rare cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma.

She told her 17,000 followers on social media: “What a journey."

Speaking to National Public Radio (NPR), she said: “The previous person that had done it, I had looked at it and I’m like, ‘Well, she can do it. And she was an able-body and I was like let me see if I could do it on a prosthetic and see what happens’. And it was an interesting journey because I wanted to push the limits and see how far, but also see how far I could do it and if my prosthetic would actually last.”

She added: “I thought it would be a great way to inspire others to push your limits because I truly believe that we’re stronger than what we think. And I’ve been so pleasantly surprised that my body’s held up, everything’s held up and I’ve made it to 104.”

People praised: "Puts a lot of us to shame. Well done. Inspirational."

A second added: "Amazing achievement."

A third penned: "Humbling."

Jacky documented on social media: "What was the hardest part of running a 104 marathons in a 104 days? For me the biggest struggle was mentally. I thought going into this that my body would fail first, but it was by far a mental struggle.

"It was hard getting up everyday and run a marathon. It is hard to keep your mind occupied and distracted for 5 hours a day. I had days when I got up and really didn't feel like running. On day 50 I honestly thought to myself that 50 marathons is a good distance and it's ok to quit if I wanted to. Stupid voice in my head.

"I wasn't injured and my body felt better than expected, my mind was just trying to tell me that this is hard, you are crazy and you are ok to quit. For some unknown reason I struggled nearly every day from mile 23. I was so close to the end, but still so far. Your mind is so powerful.

"I'm not a quitter and I knew if I did stop, and it wasn't for a good reason, like my prosthetic broke or I broke my good foot I would be disappointed in myself. So I sucked it up and got it done.

"On hard days I would tell myself to just focus on the next mile and then when I got to that mile, I would celebrate it and then go for the next mile and before I knew I had done another marathon."