Run Like a Mother: Moms Dominating the Running World
Professional runners and mothers are powered by the same principles: endurance, strength, discipline, and love. Both groups are inspiring on their own, but mothers who are professional runners are on another level. These are insanely athletic mothers who come back after childbirth, demolishing the old standards and setting new jaw-dropping records--and we don’t talk about them enough!
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
The Jamaican “Mommy Rocket” returned within two years of giving birth. While her competitors race at the 2017 World Championships in London, she was going into labor with her son Zyon. With a quick turnaround, she was seen back on the track in May of 2018, and a year later won the 100m world title...again...for the fourth time.
“I hope you don’t hide who you are behind motherhood… It’s part of your journey, it’s who you are now, and you embrace it. It’s almost like an add-on to who you are as a woman. If anything it enhances who you are. So be strong and believe that you too can accomplish great things. Things change, but you definitely can get to the top.”
This past Olympics didn’t go as planned for Shelly-Ann. Devastatingly, she had to drop out of the 100m semi-finals due to an injury. Despite this, her legacy of 16 years in the sport, three Olympic gold medals, eight podium finishes, and a beautiful baby boy, she will forever be known as one of the greatest sprinters in history.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Zyon after Winning the 100m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships (Getty Images)
Mckenna Myler
The unstoppable stride of the U.S. long-distance runner Mckenna Myler made viral news during quarantine. Videos showed her 9 months pregnant, running a mile in an outstanding time of 5:25. Giving birth a week later sent the world in shock, and for good reason. In 2021, a year after giving birth to her daughter Kenny Lou, McKenna qualified to run the 10k in the U.S. Olympic Trials. At seven months postpartum, Mckenna beat her collegiate personal record and placed 14th out of 44 runners. Ten months after giving birth to her second child, Wakfield, she ran the marathon in the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing 7th with another personal record. In addition to shaving 5 minutes off her previous marathon time, she was 45 seconds off making the Olympic team.
As Mckenna proves that the body is capable of doing amazing things, she reminds us all to “embrace compromise” and explains,
“I’ve never felt a greater sense of worth than the day I became a mother. I’m talking deep, human-experience-level worth. With that box checked, not only is the sport no longer my primary identity, I now glean more profound joy from it. The result of that, at least for me, has been serious progress in the sport.”
Mckenna Running with Her Second Baby
Amalie Iuel
Amalie Luel is a trailblazing mother. With a spectacularly speedy background competing at USC, the Trojan set the Norwegian under-23 record in the 400-meter hurdles, and at the 2015 NCAA Championship, she placed 7th. Amalie did not stop running competitively after college, and since high school, she has been racing the 400-meter hurdles with a strong commitment and dedication. Proving her spot at the high levels, she has shown face in many European Championships and World Championships.
In September 2023, Amalie became a boy mom. This did not falter her ability to stay focused on her craft of running. Through discipline, she fought for her spot on the Norwegian 4x400m national team. At the World Athletics Relay Championship, Amalie and her team sent shockwaves through the crowd as they qualified for the Olympics. This would be the first time in over 20 years Norway would send a relay team to the Olympics. With a strong performance, they placed 6th in Paris while making history for their country.
Faith Kipyegon
Three Olympic 1500m gold medals in three consecutive Olympics is not Faith’s only mark in athletics. At 22 years old, after winning her first gold medal in Rio, she took home Kenya’s first women’s 1500m World Athletic Championship gold just one year later. Although her addiction to gold medals was not satisfied yet, she took maternity leave in 2018. With an emergency C-section, she gave birth to her daughter, Alyn, that June. This was no easy feat, and she feared she may not be able to return to running at all. By grit and grace, she persevered and in Tokyo scored gold again.
“Before I gave birth to Alyn, I never ran a world record, but now I am here with Alyn and the world record.”
In July 2024, she shattered the 1500m world record with a time of 3:49.09, and later that season took gold in Paris. Faith has proven to be tough as nails as she bounced back from her adversity and continues to break barriers.
Faith and Ayln Showing Off Some of the Olympic Golds
Each of these women has set groundbreaking records and rewrote history on their own terms. They chose mental toughness over giving up, led examples of what it means to be an iron mom, managed time through grit, and did it all by the sacrifice of love. This alliance of mothers who push through the burn together– whether it be from running or childbirth– sends an inspirational buzz to the world.