I frequently hear people pointing out someone who they feels is inspirational.  It is a term that is used for people in all walks of life – political figures, social activists, scientists, business leaders.  I googled inspirational people. Some are people I would admire but I am not comfortable using the label “inspirational” to describe them. I started wondering what does it mean to be inspirational.  I looked up definitions of inspirational so that I fully understood the term.  I like this definition: “Inspirational people set a goal for themselves and then do everything in their power, through self-discipline and dedication, to achieve it.”  In doing so, inspirational people make others feel hopeful or encouraged that they too can achieve a goal.  Once I understood what characterizes inspirational people, I thought about who inspires me.  Not surprising to those who know me well, the people who inspire me come from the running world.

The first is Jacky Hunt-Broersma who I discovered on Instagram several years ago.  I wrote about Jacky in my post “Moving Through Loss”.  In her 20s Jacky lost part of her left leg to Ewing Sarcoma, a rare cancer that usually affects children.  When she turned 40, she took up running.  She was not a runner before she became an amputee.  Those first few races were a challenge but Jacky pushed through.  As her running improved she got fitted for a running blade and set her goals higher.  She quickly progressed from 5Ks to ultra-marathons (distances over 26 miles).  She didn’t give up because of the loss of her leg. Her motto is “I can do hard things.” 

The first mile of any run is a challenge as sweating can cause her blade to slide off.  I watched her on Instagram as she ran 100 miles on a treadmill during COVID to make up for a race that was canceled.  Jacky ran 104 marathons in 104 days, setting a new Guinness World Record.  She used this personal challenge as a way to raise money for prosthetics for other athletes who are amputees. Jacky is currently in the middle of running a minimum of 13.1 miles every day for 250 days or until she reaches 3,262 miles.  Why 3,262 miles?  Because that is the same distance as running across America, something Jacky has always wanted to do.  Every day she dedicates her run to someone who is fighting cancer, survived, or lost their lives.  This project is also raising money for the Sarcoma Foundation.  

Recently Jacky ran a 100K race through a desert.  Another runner commented Jacky had a huge advantage with her prosthetic blade.  I was gobsmacked when I read that.  In her Instagram post about the incident Jacky pointed out these “advantages” of her running blade: 1) the blade makes her slower so she starts at the back of the pack – she’d have to pass every other runner in the race in order to win; 2) she had to stop every mile to release her blade and rub her stump because of the pain; 3) her stump started bleeding because the liner sock had folded so it cut into her skin; 4) she developed a huge blister because she didn’t get the liner back on correctly and it wasn’t holding her leg in the correct position. In the middle of the race Jacky sat on a rock and cried out of frustration with the problems her prosthetic was causing her.  Then she had trouble getting back up from the rock because she had taken off her leg.  Who in their right mind would say that any of those things were an advantage?  A pretty small minded person.  I think she is inspirational for taking on an ultra-marathon, let alone one through a desert.

I am inspired by Jacky who doesn’t give up when any other person would have thrown in the towel a million times.  Jacky said it best “I never asked to be a fighter” but that is exactly what she has become.  Jacky inspires me not to give up when my TM symptoms  cause issues for my running.  Lately my symptoms have made my running more challenging.

There is one other person who inspires me.  His name is Scott and he is a runner who I met on one of my running vacations.  Scott has degrees in engineering he could have used to build all sorts of lucrative things.  Scott decided instead to use his skills to design and build custom prosthetics for people like Jacky.  Scott works with broken people, people who are probably struggling with self-esteem issues from being an amputee, and whose condition makes them less mobile, more isolated.  Scott creates solutions that enable them to have more normal lives.  He fixes broken people. Scott showed us his office and I was amazed by the sophistication of the equipment used to make legs, hands, feet, fingers, etc.  In a race recently I began to notice the number of people who were running with prosthetic limbs.  It made me smile to think Scott helps runners get back out in the race, to not feel like they have to stay on the sidelines.  He inspires me to do more to help others.

Being an inspirational person like Jacky doesn’t mean she is a superhero.  She recently admitted she experienced periods of depression.  Jacky and other inspirational people are still human and can fall victim to the same lows we all can feel.  Her confession made me feel it is okay to have days when you don’t feel like you can do it all. It made me have even more admiration and respect for her.  

Jacky and Scott are two people who inspire me.  Jacky’s tenacity makes me realize that I can push through anything to reach my goals.  She is like the Ever Ready Bunny – she just keeps going.  Scott shows me how anyone can make a meaningful contribution to someone else’s life.  Maybe that is the most inspirational message of all.

If you want to learn more about Jacky and her Project I Can Do Hard Things, check out her blog post on the Tail Wind website: https://tailwindnutrition.com/blogs/tw/project-i-can-do-hard-things You can also follow her on her Instagram page: @ncrunnerjacky