21: Crash Amputee to 12 Time World Record Holder // The Story of Amy Palmiero-Winters

Amy Palmiero-Winters is a professional athlete, career-woman, mother and the founder of the One Step Ahead Foundation. After losing her left leg below the knee due to a motorcycle accident that occurred in 1994, Amy compiled a tremendous portfolio of world records and firsts for a female amputee in marathons, ultramarathons, triathlons, and ultra-triathlons. As she attained more and more achievements, she found herself in the position of being a role model, especially for young people with physical disabilities of their own. She soon found herself working extensively with children, introducing them to sports and athletics as a way of helping them overcome their physical limitations. After several years, Amy founded the One Step Ahead Foundation in order to provide even more opportunities for children with physical disabilities. 

Amy currently holds eleven world records in various track events. In 2010, she was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and the ESPN ESPY Award as the top female athlete with a disability in the world.  Also in 2010, Amy received the Women’s Sports Foundation Wilma Rudolph Courage Award, the Challenges Athletes Foundation Trail Blazer Award, the Huffington Post Game Changer Award and the USA Strength Award. 

In 2011, Amy became the first female amputee to finish the Badwater Ultramarathon, which is described as “the world’s toughest foot race”. It is a 135-mile course starting at 282 feet below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California’s Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney.  She had a finish time of 41:26:42.   In 2011, Amy was the first amputee to run the Reykjavik, Iceland Marathon.  During her time in Iceland, Amy was honored with the 2011 Ossur Ultimate Athlete Award.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• 4:06 Amy introduces her significant other, Christopher Accord, who is a top obstacle race director today.  
• 7:19 Growing up, Amy has always been fond of riding motorcycles. She shares the story of how one motorcycle accident changed her life.  
• 9:02 During high school, She took her talents for granted and did not take it seriously.  
• 15:16 Motivating someone to improve and take it to the next level is more important for Amy than her awards and recognition.  
• 21:25 Amy shares a story of how her big brother taught her about her best asset, which is to keep moving forward and being stronger.  
• 26:27 With her prosthetic leg removed, Amy crawled 7.5 miles under barbed wire for 12 hours. 
• 29:19 She talks about having a positive mental outlook, which could tremendously help people push through hurdles and challenges.  
• 34:03 Chris discusses the topic of mind over limitations. 
• 35:25 Eric remembers a story of how he almost drowned when he was a teenager. He relates this story to the topic of mind over limitations.  
• 40:25 Pushing oneself past the limit can help a person realize who he or she can be.  
• 45:40 According to Amy, if you feel that twinge to draw back when facing life issues, you need to ask yourself why you need to draw back. What is it that makes you want to stop and retreat.  
• 51:09 Chris and Amy first met in an event called Death Race.  
• 53:46 They had their first date on Mount Whitney, where Chris almost froze to death and damaged his eye retina climbing the mountain.  
• 56:56 Chris and Amy share their craziest experience in running.  
• 59:51 If Amy could go back in time and give her younger self a bit of advice, she wouldn’t say a single word.

This Episode Sponsored By:

• 18:06 To learn more about Amy Palmiero-Winters & her story visit her website SeeAmyRun.com.  Amy also would love for you to support her favorite charity: One Step Ahead Foundation. The foundation is helping children with physical disabilities build self-esteem and self-confidence through athletics.
• 43:52 The Man, the Myth, the Canadian Legend: Eric Gilbert-Williams.  Eric put together this very podcast as a passion project to help you & others. If you’d be so kind to Subscribe & Leave a Written Review of the show, it’d really make our day! You can Subscribe & Rate our Podcast right here: From Rock Bottom to Rockin’ It.

Key Points from the Interview:

• “I was slightly embarrassed when you listed off awards and records because at the end of the day that’s not what it’s all about and that’s not who I am. I’m more proud of being able to go and encourage someone to dig a little deeper, push a little bit harder because that’s what’s gonna take them to the next level of who they are.”  
• “If you’re told to do a hundred, why not do a hundred and one. Why not push yourself past where somebody says stop. If they say five rounds, why not do six. Because if you’re always told to stop at five, you’ll never know who you’re gonna be unless you push past and go to six.”

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook: SeeAmyRun
• Twitter: @runamyrun
• Instagram: amybkw1
• SeeAmyRun.com 
• One Step Ahead Foundation
• Spartan Death Race
• Meet Amy, An Amputee Runner Who Loves Helping Disabled Kids
• Amy’s Toughest Challenge Yet: Her 140-Mile Run in the Desert
• First Female Amputee in Grueling Desert Ultra Run Explains Why She’ll Never Stop