Story by Kristin

This time last year 12/22/2022 I just completed my last run as a pregnant runner. My son was delivered later that night. Once I was cleared to run at the end of February I trained long and hard for the Chicago marathon, my dream race. Right before I left my son go the stomach which caught up to me on the Chicago marathon course. While I finished my first postpartum marathon I was devastated and honestly unsure what to do next.

 

I worked so hard and I didn’t felt my results showed that. A week later I switched my half marathon registration to the full marathon for Philly. Six weeks later I toed the start line for Philly with ZERO expectations and promised myself no matter what I’d have fun.

 

I started the race and kept repeating in my head it’s for the long run, don’t go out to fast, control! I did a great job at doing this as I made my way through the first 9 miles out of center city. Around mile 10 I found the 3:40:00 pace group and decided to hang with them to keep myself accountable and honestly I just needed some confidence as Chicago was in the back of my mind.

 

Around mile 18 as we headed in to Manayunk I could feel my confidence rising and I could tell today was going to be a good day. At mile 21 I was feeling strong and left the pace group, where I sprinted those last 5 miles. As I approach the final hill I realized I was a minute away from a BQ. As I got closer to the finish I knew I wouldn’t make it, but for once I didn’t care.

 

Today was never about the BQ, it was about gaining my confidence back, feeling strong in my new body since having a baby, and smiling ever damn mile and I did just that! As I approach the finish line I pumped my fists with pure.

 

Emotion and pride. I crossed that finish line as one proud mother runner. All those early mornings, sleepless nights and hard workouts were all worth it for this moment. It was worth finding the time to train for a marathon during my first year as a new mom.

 

This race gave me my confidence back as a mother runner and reignited my love for the marathon distance, and left me hungry to tackle that next milestone!