Jacky Hunt-Broersma: The Amputee Ultrarunner Who Keeps Setting New Records

Jacky Hunt-Broersma is an amputee ultrarunner who set a new record for running 250 half marathons in 250 days. She is now setting her sights on another, bigger challenge.

On April 6, 48-year-old Jacky Hunt-Broersma became the first amputee to ever run 250 half marathons in 250 consecutive days. 

She also set a new World Record for the first amputee to run 104 marathons in 104 consecutive days in 2022. She ran a total of 4,370 miles / 7,032 kilometers. In 2020, she was also awarded a Guinness World Record as the first leg amputee to run 100 miles / 161 km on a treadmill nonstop…in under 24 hours. Jacky was also the first amputee to take on the brutal TransRockies mountain stage trail race in Colorado. The race covers 120 miles / 193 km across six days, with over 20,000 feet / 6,096 meters of climbing and running at altitude.

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Jacky, a cancer survivor, endurance coach, mother, and amputee ultrarunner, lost her lower left leg to Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the tissue around bones, in 2002 at age 26. She certainly has not lost her stride though. 

What makes it more impressive: she only started her running journey in 2016 with a 5K race.

Finding A Purpose

“Ever since I got my cancer, I always looked for a purpose,” Jacky, a native of South Africa, explains. “It may sound dumb, but I’ve always wondered if there was a bigger purpose as to why this happened. Maybe my ‘why’ is to make a difference in the world.”

Every single challenge Jacky takes on, she takes on with a purpose. “I ran the 104 marathons challenge to raise funds for a fantastic charity called ‘Amputee Blade Runners’ that provides prosthetic running blades,” she shares. With a price tag of around $20,000 per blade and prosthetic running blades hard to come by via health insurance in the U.S., where Jacky now lives, many amputees rely on charities and non-profit organizations to secure one.

RELATED: ‘Running on a Brick’: The Harsh Reality of Amputees Seeking Proper Prosthetics

When she ran her 250 half marathons in 250 days challenge, she did it for Cancer Research. For that same challenge, she also wanted to create a supportive community for people affected by cancer. Reflecting on her own cancer diagnosis and the loneliness she felt, she wanted to make sure others didn't go through the same isolation. “During that challenge, I would dedicate each run to someone who was either fighting cancer, lost their life to cancer, or knew someone who has/had cancer,” she says. Her thoughtful dedication had the desired effect, as she received many messages expressing gratitude. 

Running and taking on these challenges hasn’t only allowed Jacky to support charities and people impacted by cancer, it’s also transformed her own life and mindset. “It’s given me a lot more confidence,” she says with an infectious smile. “I have this whole new outlook on my body and how incredible our bodies are. I have such a higher appreciation and respect for my body now. It’s also taught me that we can do so much more than we think we can if we just put our minds to it.”

Tackling Trail Runs with Prosthetics

Losing a leg could easily create a mental block for most people thinking about being active, let alone running long distances on trails. Not to mention the physical effects running with a prosthetic blade on long, rocky trails day after day can create. “I am in pain for the first mile of any run because my stump needs to adjust to my running prosthetic,” Jacky explains. “Skin breakdown can be a pain. Blisters come up on my stump from friction caused by the liner. Sweating is a major issue and can cause my leg to slide off during a run.”

“Amputees are more prone to injury and I’m at my PT every two weeks. My stump is all bone, so my bones bruise running, and my knee bone will shift out which is extremely painful,” she continues. “When I am running 100 miles, I have to stop a lot more than a regular athlete to change socks on my stump. Valves break, liners tear, and all this adds up to the cost of running with a prosthetic.”

When we take all these additional challenges into account, Jacky’s efforts are even more impressive. Yet, she’s clearly not letting any of them stop her from pursuing her dreams because she keeps going back to the trails. As she writes in one of her recent and witty Instagram posts: “It’s run far, don’t die training season again.” 

Indeed, Jacky is racking up the mileage this season ahead of a new challenge. She is training for the Yeti 100 miler in September, followed by the Javelina Jundred 100K in October, and the ATY 200 miler in December. These races will be the building blocks for a 340-mile race she’ll be running in 2025.

She may have quite a few miles under her belt, but Jacky remains meticulous and grounded about her training. “That kind of distance [340 miles] is going to be a little bit of an interesting challenge because I don't know how my prosthetic is going to do, and I don't know how my stump is going to do. I’m using the 200 miler as a training to see what works and what doesn't work, just to kind of figure it out a little bit ahead of my 340-mile challenge.”

It may be easy to feel bad about someone ‘having’ to run with ‘just’ one leg given all the additional challenges they face. But Jacky isn’t someone to throw a pity party over. She faces her amputation head-on with a positive and humorous attitude. Her t-shirts, sporting slogans like “Shark Cage Tester” and “It’s official, I’m on my last leg,” reflect her upbeat spirit, as seen on her Instagram.

And just like anyone, Jacky has her fair share of doubts, which she shares with frankness with her online community, like in this recent Instagram post: “Full transparency: I've really been doubting myself a lot lately. Am I good enough, am I strong enough to take on a 300+ mile race. I know that if I don't give it a shot then I will regret it and yes I can totally fail but I could also achieve something really really amazing. I'm 100% going for it." Her transparency demonstrates that no one is invincible, but knowing why you’re doing something and having the right mindset can make all the difference.

One thing we know for certain is no matter whether she’s feeling uplifted or a little jittery, Jacky is embracing her life fully: “I’m super grateful I’m here,” she says, beaming, “and I try not to take life for granted.”