A marathon swimmer and ultrarunner: surviving cancer, breaking records

After cancer, one woman swam farther than anyone ever had in a lake. Another ran 104 marathons in 104 days on a carbon-fiber running blade.

Marathon swimmer Sarah Thomas returned to the water following aggressive breast cancer and went on to complete multiple record-setting open-water swims.

And Jacky Hunt-Broersma lost her leg to bone cancer, then redefined endurance one marathon at a time.

Their stories are about ambition, adaptation, and the audacity to ask the body for more.

Suggested episodes:

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• What a runner’s high feels like when you’re 105 years old
• What it’s like to be allergic to water
• Below the surface: The stories behind underwater world records

GUESTS:

• Sarah Thomas: marathon swimmer who holds multiple world records for the longest current-neutral swims ever completed, including a 104.6-mile swim in Lake Champlain. After aggressive breast cancer treatment, she returned to the water and became the first person to complete four consecutive crossings of the English Channel
• Jacky Hunt-Broersma: an ultrarunner and amputee who lost her left leg to bone cancer at age 26. In 2022, she ran 104 marathons in 104 consecutive days on a carbon-fiber running blade, setting a Guinness World Record and raising nearly $200,000 to help other amputees access running prosthetics. Her memoir, Duct Tape and Determination: A True Story of Turning Devastation into Grit, is coming out in August 2026

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