Having just given birth 4 months ago - she's nuts!!

She did cop to getting an epidural since she wasn't sure she could handle labor without having just spent 6+ hours running and walking and not knowing how long the labor would be.

Still not sure if she is totally insane or not. I get running and all during pregnancy, but come on - you're 38+ weeks pregnant and you still do a marathon? That just seems a whole lot of excessive for me. Even with doctors permission - a lot could have gone wrong. Very glad they are all ok. Even the husband who ran with her for a while and finished about 10 - 15 minutes behind her.

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."

Yeah. I'm all for exercise, but that's a bit much. I am trying not to judge, but running / walking 26 miles when you're 9 months pregnant is really not healthy for the baby.

The article didn't mention that she only gained 20 lbs during her second pregnancy. At 6:35 for a finish time and as a fit individual, she probably had a much higher heart rate during delivery than during her 2 min. jog/ 2 min. walk to the finish line. More women should get up and do something, instead of seeing pregnancy as a hall-pass to put on 40-80 lbs.

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DFL > DNF > DNS

true-though this seems a bit extreme...there is a woman in my office who complains all the time about not being able to lose her 'baby weight'...her kid is almost 2 years old.

I agree with you! I exercised during all 3 of my pregnancies. And I agree Americans are overweight, and use any excuse. But this, IMHO, is a little too far the opposite extreme.

I don't have any kids and I think this is great! She obviously felt good enough to do it and she looks fantastic in the picture. Most of my mommy friends exercised quite a bit during their pregnancies once they got past the initial feeling very tired and crappy phase.

*not directed at anyone in particular*


Lets round 6:25 up to 6:30 and compute average velocity:
6.5 hours / 26.2 miles = 4 mph

Biomechanically speaking, that pace is not running. (Most people don't have a flight phrase, which differentiates running from walking, until 5 mph). It's a loooong time at a moderate heart rate. I don't know enough about exercise during pregnancy to comment on what the stress to the baby could have been, but 4 mph is a lot different than RUNNING a marathon. It's possible this might have been less stressful to the fetus than racing, say, a 5k or 10k and going faster.

Where's holdencain when we need him?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I'm not saying pregnant women shouldn't exercise, not at all. I'm pregnant and 'work out' 6 days/week (currently 32+ weeks), the same frequency as I did before I was pregnant (but lower intensity and sometimes duration).

But I don't think this women should be heavily congratulated for completing a marathon (regardless of whether or not she ran vs. walked) at 38+ weeks. The behavior is a bit extreme and I question whether or not the risk is worth the reward.

I believe she ran the first part of it and then either walked or run/walked the end.

I don't have a problem with this as long as she got the go-ahead from her doc. I think she's crazy to put herself through that at 38 weeks, but I don't believe she put the baby in danger or anything like that.

Coincidentally, I had a gyno appt today! all well, but she is a marathon runner, not just a 'one and done' but does several long distance runs/yr and she also thought that was nuts. But...everyone is different and knows their own body. As I've said I've never given birth but I imagine labor was harder!
I am just disappointed she named her baby 'June' and not some running-related name!

4mph or... 15 min/mile average. Slow. Certainly for a woman who does a 3:30 normally.

That's a long time to be on your feet, but I have to ask- how is this any different than a woman who has a manual labor job, like farming or factory labor- and has to work until she gives birth? Additionally, I can imagine that throughout our evolutionary history, when humans were more migratory, many women in the late stages of pregnancy were on their feet all day, perhaps multiple days in a row. You do what you have to do.

The only difference I see here is that Amber Miller chose to be on her feet for 6.5 hours, and she didn't have to- to keep her job, or to keep up with her tribe.

So ultimately she's being criticized for her choice and the risk. So fine. Everyone has their opinion.

Well in my opinion, I think there are worse things that most American mothers routinely do, essentially risking the well-being of their children- texting while driving them around, feeding them utter shit food and soda, and letting them watch seven hours of TV every day.

What do you think about this one, rock climbing at 39 weeks. One fall and they're both toast. Worth the risk? She thinks so.
http://www.prana.com/blog/tag/carrie-cooper/

Wow your post is awesome and really thought provoking! I still am not sure what I think about this....yeah, 'back in the day'...the way day, this would be a maybe 'normal'? day leading up to childbirth.
And she should be doing another marathon today then and should have yesterday, and tomorrow. I am not judging and I thought your post was awesome along with the link.
I do agree a lot of women do more dangerous things to their unborn babies and selves than 'run' a marathon. But it's really none of my business, I just thought interesting to comment on...and I know the 'media' has said a lot but I wondered what the opinion of a group of intelligent but also crazy women who exercise a lot, I wondered what the thoughts were here...

On that note, well kind of... I recently watched the film The Business of Being Born in America. Wow! Every pregnant woman should give this a look. It focuses on the huge increase in C-sections in our country along with woman and infant mortality rates. Very interesting and thought provoking.

The thought in my head after watching it and seeing some women have natural births, was how in the hell do women in 3rd world countries have babies in the field or wherever then just get back to business as usual.

Nice post. Thanks for the video link. The rock-climbing chick doesn't seem nuts; especially given how her harness has been re-rigged so there would be less impact on her baby if she fell...plus the fact this is a girl who climbs seriously non-pregnant...and in her pregnancy is doing top-roped easy climbs (5.7 she says, really quite easy)...I like that women are choosing to challenge the western world "norms" by just listening to their bodies...even if it seems a little extreme...really no different to how shorter distance triathletes might view those who do ultra-marathons or ultra triathlons... :)

Best part of the story:

She not only beat her husband with a time of 6:25:50, but she stopped to get a sandwich before going to the hospital.

Her husband ran slower than 6:25?

you know what I thought? Maybe she was tired of waiting for the baby to come out and it was her way of inducing labor!

She "ran" the first half marathon in 3:07 and then did the 2nd half...I guess in 3:18. You can check out all her 5k splits here. But yeah, sorry, maybe I'm being a snotty elitist, but I would hardly call that running.

Her husband's time was 6:44:47. and HE wasn't pregnant...what's his excuse?!

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:: I came, I saw, I conquered. then I ran out of money, crashed into a car during an Ironman, and now work a bad-ass job making prosthetic legs for wounded warriors. ::

the blog: My So-Called Civilian Life :: theWongstar.com :: follow me @theWongstar

Well said NPDA! Never had kids of my own but my sister had one 18 months ago and she took the whole "eating for two" to a frightening level!! So much so that I will certainly be monitoring what on earth goes in my body if I spawn as no way in hell am I letting myself go like she did!!

I think we've become "princesses" - and that isn't a compliment! I think this has happened because we allow it to happen. Doctors in Japan tell you to gain between 7-10kg MAX and if you go over that, they bully you about your weight. It is extreme but the gaining of 35-whatever is crap and I think worse for your health and the babies health. Women had to squat, no meds and get back to the job at hand once done. I think mentally we think we need the meds (and yep, I will search high and low for them because they aren't common in Japan - honestly this country hates women), we need all the rest, we need to be pampered. There isn't anything "wrong" with that but it isn't how it always was.

'Running a marathon this far along? I am in awe as just running one now scares the crap out of me! Perhaps that should be my mental moto - a pregnant lady can do it, so can I!!!

Wongstar, I am a bit surprised at this posting. You took a pretty good beating on the main forum regarding your less than stellar (fair description?) swim results in a few Ironman races. Many rushed to your defense and supported you. Now this?

To clarify...I read somewhere that this woman normally does a 3:30 marathon. When not pregnant.

Sooo... For a non-pregnant 3:30 marathoner, I would think it's not particularly strenuous to do an almost 6:30 marathon, pregnant.

As for the husband's time, what??? I'm not allowed to make fun of a husband who goes way slower than his uber pregnant wife...in the Womens Forum???

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:: I came, I saw, I conquered. then I ran out of money, crashed into a car during an Ironman, and now work a bad-ass job making prosthetic legs for wounded warriors. ::

the blog: My So-Called Civilian Life :: theWongstar.com :: follow me @theWongstar

well said!!!

I think she is a beast. Regardless of if it was a good or bad idea, she still finished A MARATHON 38 weeks pregnant and had a healthy baby. Kudos to her!