(CNN) Stephanie Case had no intention of winning when she entered a 100-kilometer (about 62-mile) ultrarunning competition through the Welsh mountains.
With special permission from the race organizers to pause at an extra point to ensure her daughter was fed, Case’s only real goal, six months after giving birth and still nursing her baby daughter Pepper, was to complete the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia by UTMB in North Wales Eryri National Park.
In fact, Case didn’t learn that she had won the women’s competition until the very end of the exhausting race. Due to her three-year break from running, she started in the third wave, considerably behind the top runners.
This is despite the fact that her final race time included the three times she stopped to feed Pepper during the run.
That was somewhat unexpected. I didn’t anticipate that. “That possibility wasn’t even on my radar,” Case told CNN Sports.
Since then, photos of her competing in the May race have gone viral, and the ultra runner says the response has been tremendous.
Although it wasn’t anything I planned or strategized in advance, it does indicate to me that there aren’t enough stories about new mothers engaging in a variety of activities and leading multifaceted, full lives.
Divergent responses to achievement
According to Case, the images demonstrate that motherhood is simply one aspect of who you are as a person and that life doesn’t end when you become a mother.
We all have mom guilt, but it’s critical for new mothers to understand that it’s acceptable to put their whole and complete selves first since doing so will ultimately make them better parents because we are complex individuals.
She went on to tell CNN that becoming a mother is one of the biggest emotional and physical changes you will ever experience. Therefore, for me, if there are anything you can cling to, it’s running, which serves as a reminder that while everything has changed, some things have remained the same and that you still own certain aspects of your identity.
This month marks Case’s 43rd birthday. She began ultrarunning nearly 18 years ago when she was seeking a new challenge after completing her first marathon.
Racing across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa, she also became rather skilled at it.
However, after experiencing many miscarriages during her and her partner’s attempts to conceive, Case—who practices international human rights law by day—took a three-year break from the sport.
People in the neighborhood asked me if the miscarriage was brought on by running. Naturally, there is no scientific or medical proof to support that, but it did sow the seeds of doubt and fundamentally alter my connection with running, she told CNN Sports.
According to her, running changed from being a way for her to relieve stress and find joy to becoming something entirely different.
Six weeks after Pepper’s birth, Case resumed running after receiving the all-clear from her physician.
Physically, it felt bizarre. I felt like a runner again, but I also felt like my organs were about to come out. She said, “I felt like myself again.”
She claimed that starting so far back in the Ultra Trail Snowdonia was actually a boon because it relieved a lot of the stress. Since I was starting so far back, starting the third wave kind of confirmed to me that I couldn’t have any performance ambitions.
Case asked for and received permission to receive help at the 50-kilometer checkpoint even though the event already had halting stations at 20 and 80 kilometers since she knew she would need to feed Pepper in between.
John, my partner, could only give me Pepper as a result. He was unable to assist me with any of my bottles, my pack, or anything else I needed to do to take care of my own food.
In addition to taking care of Pepper, I had to do everything by myself. I had never encountered this additional degree of logistics before. We’ve never done it during a race, but Pepper is accustomed to sort of feeding during training runs, she said.
It ought to be about decision-making.
Following her victory, Case has received a lot of supportive remarks, but she has also received a lot of paternalistic and misogynistic ones.
“Does she spend any time with her baby?” they asked. She ought to be at home. Why didn’t she hold off? Case said that remarks regarding my appearance or age were essentially an attempt to disparage everything I did.
She clarified that other responses were from mothers who were concerned that this story and photos were supporting the notion that women are incapable of meeting this impossible ideal.
According to Case, some mothers are just trying to get through the day because they are fatigued. The notion that they must not only be mothers but also have a job and get back into shape while running ultra marathons and nursing made them feel very self-conscious. I believe that this is a result of our patriarchal society, where we are indoctrinated to compete with one another.
We simply need the freedom to be able to travel that road on our own, to determine what motherhood looks like for each of us, individually, she continued. As new mothers, everything we do is examined and condemned.
For some, it might be running a 5k, joining a book club, or doing something completely new, but for me, it means running 100k and doing everything that brings me joy.
Case’s next event is the Hardrock 100, a 100-mile race in July in Colorado that involves a climb of 33,197 feet and a fall of 33,197 feet.
Choice need to be the main factor. That’s the whole point, really. If XYZ falls into place, women can accomplish all of this if they so choose and have the necessary backing. They should be given the resources, support, and encouragement to pursue anything they choose, but they are not required to, should the stars align and they decide to follow it.
