A young mother is inspiring parents everywhere after she broke a record for running a marathon while pushing her three children in a triple stroller.
Cynthia Lauren Arnold is a 35 year-old longtime runner who ran track and field in high school and college. When she had her children, she figured that bringing them on her runs was the perfect way to embrace her new life while also incorporating her love of running.
“Running with the stroller has so many benefits for running parents,” Cynthia said. “Those of us who run know how much it is a part of our identity. You can’t just give that up if you become a parent. The stroller gives one the freedom to carry on a lifestyle with new ones in tow.”
Last year, Cynthia set the goal of breaking the Guinness World Record for fastest half-marathon time for a woman pushing a three-child stroller, which was 1:47:32 at the time.
Any mom’s out there looking for a little affirmation, check it out. July 15, 2018, 34-year-old Cynthia Lauren Arnold, of Polson, MT, ran a new… https://t.co/N7n86aLHae
— FleetFeetEncino (@FLEETFEETENCINO) August 8, 2018
It was Cynthia’s husband that gave her the idea to do this.
“He said, ‘You should try to go for this triple world record in the half marathon, that would be really cool. That would be neat for the kids,'” she recalled.
Cynthia ran the Missoula Marathon while pushing her two young daughters and one young son in the triple stroller, and she ended up beating the record by twenty minutes, running it in 1:29:08!
Making this record even more sweet is that she won’t have much more time to run with her kids in this way, as her 6 year-old daughter Marguerite is almost too big for the stroller. That’s why she decided to run a full marathon with the stroller this year, and to beat the previous record, she would need to run 26.2 miles in 4:06.
Ann Marie Cody finished the Silicon Valley Half Marathon in one hour, 46 minutes and ten seconds pushing her triplets in a triple stroller. This marks her second half marathon running with the kids. pic.twitter.com/BYTQZkOxqz
— Joseph Geha (@josephgeha16) April 15, 2018
This was made even more difficult by the fact that her children had grown a lot in a year. They now weigh a combined weight of 130 pounds, and added to the stroller, Cynthia had to push 185 pounds!
Cynthia trained all winter, oftentimes with her kids, who she said love participating.
“We live in rural Montana and see lots of wildlife on the bike path right out my door,” she said. “I keep a pretty consistent routine and see some regular commuters each day, and the kids like saying hello to the cyclists.”
Finally, the Missoula Marathon rolled around, and Cynthia immediately felt the love from the spectators.
“I was moved by how many people were cheering for me and knew what my goal was on race day,” she recalled. “One woman called out ‘I’ve been reading about you all year. Go mom!’”
In the end, Cynthia crushed the record and set a new one with a time of 3:11:53! She’s inspiring mothers everywhere with her incredible running skills. You go, girl!
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.