Woman Gives Birth After Finishing Marathon, Makes Us Feel Lazy

A Chicago-area woman commemorated her 39th week of pregnancy by running and walking the Chicago marathon yesterday. And then giving birth.

Amber Miller’s doctor gave her permission to complete the feat of feet, but only if she ran half and walked half. Her husband occasionally jumped in and ran alongside her for moral support (something that’s technically against the rules of the race, but tons of people do it anyway). By the time she finished, she was starting to have contractions. She and her husband then went out for dinner before heading to the hospital.

She says that no race officials threw any judgmental comments her way and that fan reaction was “interesting.” She didn’t complain of much discomfort because she’d been running through her entire pregnancy.

Running while pregnant works out well for some, but isn’t as easy for others. World class marathoner and all-around badass Kara Goucher ran in races until she was well into her pregnancy, and back in April, took 5th place in the Boston Marathon, just seven months after her son was born. World record holder Paula Radcliffe remained a competitive marathoner through portions of both of her pregnancies and next year, at 38, hopes to compete for the gold medal in the London Olympic marathon. But neither Goucher nor Radcliffe can boast that they ran or walked 26.2 miles on the day they gave birth.

The baby girl, who Miller and her husband have named June, weighed in at 7 lbs, 13 oz.

Photo finish: woman gives birth after running (and walking) marathon [Chicago Tribune]