104 and no more: Amputee wraps up marathon record quest

Advertisement

Advertise with us

When amputee athlete Jacky Hunt-Broersma says her mantra is, “I can do hard things,” she's not kidding — the amputee athlete has run 104 marathons in as many days, all using a carbon-fiber prosthesis.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/05/2022 (1595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When amputee athlete Jacky Hunt-Broersma says her mantra is, “I can do hard things,” she’s not kidding — the amputee athlete has run 104 marathons in as many days, all using a carbon-fiber prosthesis.

Hunt-Broersma, 46, completed that epic quest on Saturday near her home in suburban Phoenix, setting an unofficial world record along the way.

“What a journey,” she tweeted.

Jacky Hunt-Broersma smiles as he holds a trophy her family gave her after she completed her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Jacky Hunt-Broersma smiles as he holds a trophy her family gave her after she completed her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The South Africa native, who lost her left leg below the knee to a rare cancer, gained worldwide attention and a huge social media following after beginning her record attempt on Jan. 17.

Brick Runners, an organization that supports athletes who raise money for charities, even designed a Jacky-inspired Lego-style character complete with one of her favorite T-shirts, which reads: “Strong Has Many Forms.”

Hunt-Broersma also raised more than $67,000 to help fellow amputee blade runners get the expensive prostheses they need. Health insurance typically doesn’t cover the cost, which can exceed $10,000.

Every day since mid-January, she covered the classic 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) marathon distance either on a loop course laid out near her home in Gilbert, Arizona, or on a treadmill indoors.

Her original goal was to run 100 marathons in 100 days so she’d beat a record of 95 set in 2020 by Alyssa Amos Clark, a nondisabled runner from Bennington, Vermont, who did it as a pandemic coping strategy. But last month, after nondisabled British runner Kate Jayden unofficially broke Clark’s record with 101 marathons in 101 days, Hunt-Broersma realized she’d need to run at least 102.

Jacky Hunt-Broersma, left, stands next to her husband, Edwin Broersma, as Jacky talks about finishing her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Jacky Hunt-Broersma, left, stands next to her husband, Edwin Broersma, as Jacky talks about finishing her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

In an interview with The Associated Press, she said she hoped her quest would inspire people everywhere to push themselves regardless of their physical limitations.

Guinness World Records spokesperson Amanda Marcus said the Britain-based organization was aware of Hunt-Broersma’s attempt, and that it would take 12 to 15 weeks to review the evidence before the record can be confirmed.

Guinness lists the men’s record for consecutive daily marathons as 59, set in 2019 by Enzo Caporaso of Italy.

Jacky Hunt-Broersma pauses after completing her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Jacky Hunt-Broersma pauses after completing her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Jacky Hunt-Broersma finishes her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Jacky Hunt-Broersma finishes her 102nd marathon in 102 days, this one at Veterans Oasis Park, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

‘We feel lucky — and a bit traumatized’: Tornado confirmed in River Heights Sunday

Malak Abas 6 minute read Preview

‘We feel lucky — and a bit traumatized’: Tornado confirmed in River Heights Sunday

Malak Abas 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:10 PM CDT

Tanner Lemieux wasn’t surprised to learn the violent winds that tore through River Heights and reached their peak near his home Sunday night have been classified as a tornado.

While driving back to his Lindsay Street home from a shopping trip with his wife Sunday, it became clear they were not in the middle of an ordinary thunderstorm when rain and wind started coming from every direction and hit every side of their truck.

The forceful wind made it impossible for him to open his door after they had parked. He climbed through the window, over the top of his vehicle, and the couple struggled to fight the whipping winds to make it into the house.

“As we were running in, the wind started pulling me backwards out of the door,” he told the Free Press while cleaning debris from his yard Thursday.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:10 PM CDT

Paranoid and high, man kills dad, takes photos of body, calls 911

Dean Pritchard 3 minute read Preview

Paranoid and high, man kills dad, takes photos of body, calls 911

Dean Pritchard 3 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 PM CDT

Paranoid and sleep-deprived after a night of smoking crack, Donato Pellettieri stabbed his 64-year-old father 27 times, called 911 and waited outside their Maryland Avenue residence until police arrived minutes later and arrested him for murder, court was told Thursday.

“Paranoia led him to believe this was a kill-or-be-killed situation,” Crown attorney Joel Refvik told Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne. “This is an individual who, but for his drug use and paranoia, likely would not have killed his father.”

The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the July 2021 killing of Salvatore Pellettieri and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

The resolution of his case was delayed by long periods in which he was mentally unfit to stand trial, and changed lawyers and awaited reports to determine whether he should be found not criminally responsible for his actions.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 PM CDT

Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

Mike McIntyre 8 minute read Preview

Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

Mike McIntyre 8 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 9, 2026

They’ve both been around the NHL block a bit, but make no mistake, Stuart Skinner and Mario Ferraro are experiencing some “new kid at school” type jitters this week.

The pair were prized July 1 free agent signings by the Winnipeg Jets and are now quickly trying to get the lay of the land — from teammates and systems and structure to restaurants, schools and the best routes to the rink — in what is a frantic time on both a professional and personal level.

“It’s a big change, right?” Ferraro said Wednesday following a pre-training camp skate at the Hockey For All Centre.

“Like moving cities, getting settled somewhere else, with my family, my wife, my daughter, our two dogs. But I think it’s gone really well and smooth. We found a great place here, and we’re really happy with where we’re living.”

Read
Wednesday, Sep. 9, 2026

Hip-hop artist ready to release meticulously constructed album

Conrad Sweatman 4 minute read Preview

Hip-hop artist ready to release meticulously constructed album

Conrad Sweatman 4 minute read 6:39 PM CDT

The techniques of digital music production today are finicky.

Dizzingly so: a little surgical EQ to make your hi-hats less shrill, the subtle boost in the 30-Hz range to get your kick drum thumping just so, drawing out a reverb swell with a visual artist’s meticulousness.

If the artist is visually impaired, the challenge might seem next to impossible.

“It’s so tough. Spending hours on a little piece of audio, or, like, I want the delay on the word ‘home’ exactly — not the syllable after or before,” says Winnipeg-based musician Matthew Monias, whose stage name is Mattmac.

Read
6:39 PM CDT

Sunday-night auto aficionados work to steer away from unwelcome elements they say aren’t a part of their tradition

Zoe Pierce 12 minute read Preview

Sunday-night auto aficionados work to steer away from unwelcome elements they say aren’t a part of their tradition

Zoe Pierce 12 minute read 1:37 PM CDT

The red 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee out for a cruise on Portage Avenue draws admiring eyes from onlookers on a recent Sunday night, many of them seeing a specimen of the now-rare muscle car for the first time on a Winnipeg street. Or any other street, for that matter.

Longtime car enthusiast Bob Sudoma was behind the wheel, participating in the decades-old show-offy summer tradition.

The Sunday night cruise is built around a simple idea: proud car owners take their beloved vehicles for a spin to meet up with others of the same autophile ilk.

Less-fortunate appreciators, or just curious folks, also gather along the route to watch the highly-polished parade. Portage Avenue is one of cruise night’s best-known stretches.

Read
1:37 PM CDT

Artist’s inspired work brings Red River Métis story back to Portage and Main

Conrad Sweatman 8 minute read Preview

Artist’s inspired work brings Red River Métis story back to Portage and Main

Conrad Sweatman 8 minute read Updated: 2:47 PM CDT

Jennine Krauchi calls them the “grandmothers.” “They speak to you very silently. You never hear a word, but they speak,” Krauchi says, referring to the antique pieces of Métis needlework she’s carefully studied for years. But there are few precedents for her latest art project: a 85-foot-wide by 32-foot-high chain curtain of Métis needlework that drapes over the historic Bank of Montreal’s neoclassical facade.

Read
Updated: 2:47 PM CDT