The film “No Turning Back” starts off with a voice asking, “Why do you think she does this?” A man driving a truck replies, “I’ve got a couple of theories on it. The honest answer? She’s crazy. Crazy in a good way.”
The man is Lionel Hunt, and he’s talking about his sister, amputee-runner Jacky Hunt-Broersma. Hunt is in the midst of crewing her during the The Speed Project, an unsanctioned 300-ish mile race from Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada. Runners choose their own route, set up their own crew stops, navigate on their own, and can do the route as a relay or solo competitors. The event places a focus on community and pushing personal limits above many of the trappings of traditional racing. This film follows Hunt-Broersma as she attempts to become the first amputee runner to complete the event solo.
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Hunt-Broersma is no stranger to running long distances as a below-the-knee amputee. She holds the distinction of being the first amputee runner to complete the TransRockies Run stage race in Colorado in 2019. In 2020, she was the first amputee to run 100 miles on a treadmill, doing so in 23:38. In 2022, she ran 104 marathons in 104 days.
Ironically, Hunt-Broersma wasn’t a runner before she was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in 2001. Within two weeks of the diagnosis, she was scheduled to have her leg amputated out of fear that the aggressive cancer would move to her lungs. She states, “I wasn’t a runner when I had two legs, and I feel like I kind of took two legs for granted.”
In the film, when talking about lining up for The Speed Project 14 years later, she muses, “Things are going to go wrong at some point. I just don’t know when.” It’s a statement that can be applied just as readily to life as to Hunt-Broersma’s run. She talks candidly about what it was like losing her leg, saying, “One day you’re totally normal and the next you’re just, part of you is missing.” It’s a life change that would shake anyone.
Jacky Hunt-Broersma faced the same heat and terrain as two-legged runners in the event. All photos are screenshots from “No Turning Back.”
Hunt-Broersma talks about her motivations to run, saying, “When you become an amputee, it’s like you are put in a box and suddenly you’re disabled. You’re labeled.” She goes on to say, “People see you very, very different.” When people told her she couldn’t run, she set out to prove them wrong.
Filmmaker Tay Ross follows Hunt-Broersma and her crew, consisting of her brother, husband, and two children, as they make their way through the desert landscape of California and Nevada. In addition to dealing with the normal runner issues of the situation — heat, traffic, navigation, and breakdown of the body — we’re given a glimpse into the additional problems that an amputee has to deal with. Not only is the pavement hot, it’s hot to the point that it melts the tread off of her running blade; not only do her feet hurt, but her stump is bruised and swollen to the point that she can’t touch it and her running blade doesn’t fit properly; not only does Hunt-Broersma need to change shoes and socks, she needs to change her entire leg.
Throughout the film, we see how much Hunt-Broersma’s crew love and support her in her goals. Her brother tells the story of when she first told him she wanted to do the event solo, he told her, “No. Over my dead body.” But the care he takes while crewing shows a sibling bond stronger than most. Her husband seems equally devoted to her ideas.
Jacky Hunt-Broersma has her picture taken by her husband at a crew stop.
As the miles count down and their little team continues on toward Vegas, there never seems any doubt in any of their minds that Hunt-Broersma will find a way to make it. Spoiler alert: She reaches the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign to a raucous welcome of runners in 6 days, 7 hours, and 35 minutes.
In the end, Hunt-Broersma leaves us with sage advice gathered from years of doing the seemingly impossible: “You are much happier if you just follow your own path.” As for the sport of running, she closes with, “It’s all our own experiences. And that’s what makes life beautiful.”
Jacky Hunt-Broersma paving the way for other amputee runners.
Call for Comments
- Had you heard Jacky Hunt-Broersma’s inspiring story before?
- Were you following The Speed Project?
