Neely Gracey’s got wheels.
The four-time Olympic Trials qualifier and mother of two set a Guinness World Record for fastest mile pushing a stroller (female) on June 30 in Englewood, Colorado, when she steered her son Rome, 2, around a track in 5:24.17.
She took more than 33 seconds off the previous record, 5:57.95, set by Sally Onn of Great Britain a year ago. (The men’s record is 4:32.2, but it hasn’t been ratified yet.) Gracey also set the mark at altitude—Englewood sits at 5,300 feet of elevation.
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She did a spontaneous victory lap after her effort to thank the fans who were in attendance watching a track meet.
“Being a mother runner has opened up a whole new community for me, and it felt so authentic to have this goal and felt bigger than me to achieve it for other mother runners to know that, yes, they can still run down their goals after kids,” Gracey wrote in a text message to Runner’s World.
Rome rode in a Roam stroller, made by Guava Family, a maker of portable child gear.
Gracey, who holds a marathon best of 2:30:29, which she ran at the California International Marathon last December, plans to run the Olympic Marathon Trials on February 3, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.
She did not announce plans to go after the record for pushing a stroller in a marathon, however. That mark, 3:10:26, was set by Dianna Chivakos of Westford, Massachusetts, and her patient three-year-old son, Evan, in 2017.
Rome refused to indulge his mother with a high-five after the race.
“He saw the icee truck and was entirely focused on getting one,” Gracey said. “He loved the drones during the race, though, and kept pointing them out.”
Cindy Kuzma contributed to this report.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
