April 15 (UPI) — A South African runner who lost one of her legs to cancer is closing in on a new world record — running 102 marathons in 102 days. Next major hurdle — the Boston Marathon.
Jacky Hunt-Broersma has been running nonstop for about three months. And the fact that she lost her left leg to a rare cancer hardly seems to be slowing her down.
On Monday, the 46-year-old Arizona resident is set to compete in the 126th running of the Boston Marathon. It will be her 92nd race in as many days.
After Boston, Hunt-Broersma will be only four races away from breaking the record for consecutive marathons run by a woman.
Jacky says that she’s covered the 26.2-mile marathon distance every day, whether near her home in the Phoenix area or on the treadmill. In an interview with WBZ-TV, she said she’s also raising money for other amputees.
Monday’s Boston Marathon marks only the second time that it’s included Para Athletics Divisions for ambulatory athletes. The divisions have their own prize money and start time.
“It’s brilliant,” Hunt-Broersma said in an interview this week with Women’s Running. “It gives so much opportunity to other amputees, and I think it’s going to just open it up a little bit more.”
Hunt-Broersma is using her race for the record to support Amputee Blade Runners, which provides running blades for amputees.
Jacky was diagnosed in 2001 with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that required the amputation of her left leg below the knee. It wasn’t until 15 years later that she began to run.
“Running was such an important part of accepting who I was, with body image and all that,” she told Women’s Running.
“And, especially here in the states, running blades are really, really expensive, and insurance doesn’t always cover it.”
