JACQUI BELL WAS HALFWAY through her 273km run through America’s Grand Canyon – her seventh ultra-marathon on seven continents in just two years – when reality struck hard.

The week-long slog in hot, rarefied desert air amid towering cliffs gave her time to think about the rollercoaster she’d ridden.

There was the broken wrist she suffered against WAFL star Tayla Harris, her subsequent addiction to painkilling drugs, the 10 days she spent in a Bali hospital after being mugged and the great sights she had seen running across the burning sands of an African desert, the slippery ice of Antarctica and the great plains of Mongolia.

Little wonder that with so much to think about the 24-year-old Brisbane personal trainer and motivational speaker realised she was lost and had to combat fatigue and distress as she slogged her way back on course through five kilometres of red Grand Canyon sand dunes.

Even with the big detour she finished second in the women’s section, becoming the youngest person to ever complete an ultra-marathon on every continent.

Two weeks earlier Jacqui had run 250km through snow to win an event in Iceland.

“The Grand Canyon was a tough event and getting lost did my head in,’’ she said after a training session at the Body Fit gym in South Brisbane.

“I just had to suck it up and get back on track.

“Ultra-marathons teach you a lot about what your mind and body can do.

“I learnt that on my first desert run in Namibia last year. I went out hard on the first three days and I hit the wall on an 88km day in 40-plus degrees in an African desert.’’

On that run, Jacqui became incoherent – staggering and stumbling with 25km still to go before the next stop on a week-long event. But somehow – dehydrated and distressed – she pushed herself beyond the outer limits of exhaustion to make it, trampling some inner demons as well.

Jacqui fell in love with long distance events five years ago when she and three 18-year-old girlfriends walked Brisbane’s Oxfam 100km charity hike.

The next year she was playing against Harris in an Aussie rules game at Yeronga when she suffered a broken wrist. It began a horror run of injuries that included a broken ankle, arm and finger as well as a tonsillectomy.

Jacqui became addicted to painkillers and to break the cycle moved to Bali to work as a yoga teacher at a health resort. She had hardly arrived when two robbers pulled her off a scooter to steal her handbag.

After 10 days in hospital, she got her life back together as a fitness coach in Brisbane. She began competing in distance races to motivate her clients and backed by sponsors such as Jaybird, Adrenaline, Flight Centre and Brooks, she has since raised $23,000 for mental health charity the White Cloud Foundation by running around the world.

In 2018, she conquered the 4 Deserts ultra-series, running through Namibia’s Namib Desert Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, Chile’s Atacama Crossing and Antarctica.

This year, she ran a 323-kilometre race in New Zealand before tackling Iceland and the Grand Canyon.

Jacqui was only back in Queensland for a couple of days after her Grand Canyon effort when she ran 100km across the Blackall Range around Mapleton in October.

She has more races planned for New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Romania next year as well as a 100-mile (160km) event in Brisbane in July.

“When I started on my journey I never imagined it would be possible to do that many kilometres,’’ she says.

“Most people never get to see all seven continents let alone run ultra-marathons across them all.

“But running for days on end is a great way to see the world.’’

Follow Jacqui on Instagram here

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