Nine days past her due date—or 41 weeks and two days for those who like pregnancy math—Zoe Jacobs surpassed her goal of running 150 Parkruns before the birth of her daughter, according to the BBC.
Jacobs, 26, told the BBC that she was “very large and about 10 minutes slower than prior to pregnancy, but I did it, and it felt good as well.”
Jacobs knew she wanted to run throughout her pregnancy, as long as she felt up for it. “Someone did tell me, by my third trimester, I wouldn’t even want to walk, let alone run,” she said. “That was a male person as well, so he’s never been pregnant.”
More From Runner's World
That non-advice, she says, motivated her to keep running for as long as she could. “I felt healthy and fit throughout my pregnancy, which was pretty positive for me,” she said in a BBC video.
Jacobs set a goal of running 150 Parkruns—free 5K races all across England—by the time her daughter was born. She hit that at 37 weeks.
“And then I thought, ‘I’ll probably have the baby soon,’ and she just didn't want to come,” Jacobs said. So, she kept running.
Now, Jacobs is calling for better guidelines for runners who are pregnant.
Cardiff Metropolitan University (Jacobs happens to be from Cardiff, Wales) is working to develop better clinical guidelines to help moms return to athletics after delivery. One of the researchers, Izzy Moore, Ph.D. said that returning to an active lifestyle after proper rehabilitation “can have long-term health benefits for both mother and child.”
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, the author of The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a seven-time marathoner with a best of 3:31—but she is most proud of her 1:32 half, 19:44 5K, and 5:33 mile. Her work has been published in The Boston Globe, Popular Mechanics, The Wall Street Journal Buy Side, Cooking Light, CNN, Glamour, The Associated Press, and Livestrong.com.
