Sarah Reinertsen, Iron Woman

Sarah Reinertsen was born with a birth defect called proximal femoral focal deficiency. Her left leg was small, and wouldn't grow with the rest of her body, so it was amputated when she was seven years old. Still, she always wanted to be an athlete. Reinertsen began running at age eleven, and competed in the Paralympics at age 16. In college, she started running marathons, but that wasn't enough.

She is the first female amputee to win an Ironman competition. She climbed the Great Wall of China and scaled a giant cliff in Vietnam during the 10th season of the CBS television show The Amazing Race. And when she’s not running or biking or swimming, she’s trying on artificial limbs to test the latest body armor for a company that makes prosthetics. She also rallies soldiers who have lost their limbs to war. She is a hometown hero talking to runners who have known her since she was an 11-year-old who climbed into a sneaker and began running for her life.

Read more of Reinertsen's story for a real inspiration. Link -via Digg