Check out these milspouses who are taking ‘running with kids’ to a whole new level!
See this and more in the Feb/March 2020 issue of Military Spouse Magazine:
Many military spouses enjoy running as a pastime, but these two milspouse mamas take it to the next level, setting running records with either a triple or quad stroller!
Suzy Goodwin, Army spouse, started running marathons in college and had already run 40 marathons before she had her first child. At that point, she said “stroller running was just a natural fit.” But when she had triplets two years later, stroller running became a lot more challenging. When they were less than a year old, she pushed them in the triple stroller in a 5K race, and won in 23 minutes. She wondered how many other parents had raced with triplets and discovered there was no Guinness World Record for running a half-marathon while pushing a triple stroller.
Looking back
In October 2016, Goodwin’s triplets were celebrating their one-year anniversary of coming home from the neonatal intensive care unit where they spent the first two months of their life. Goodwin wanted to mark the occasion by competing in a half-marathon and raising money for the Cape Fear Valley Health NICU. Months ahead of time, she contacted Guinness to discuss documenting a record-setting run.
“It was a few months of red tape and paperwork. It was a little annoying, but I appreciate it because I grew up reading the Guinness Book, so it’s reassuring to realize that everything is legitimate,” Goodwin said. “I set the record at 2 hours, 1 minute, and 19 seconds. I knew it would be broken, but I was proud to set it.”
The race raised over $2,000 to purchase a giraffe bed for the NICU.
Since setting the Guinness record, Goodwin has continued running, both with and without her triple stroller. A self-declared optimist, Goodwin says that being a military spouse has had a huge impact on her fitness goals and her professional life:
“On the fitness side, military life has been great. We moved seven times in our first eight years of marriage. Every time we PCS, I befriend the running club first and explore a new place on foot. Running got me out of my comfort zone to make new friends. It has been my tour guide at new duty stations. Some places we lived less than a year but fitness forces you to get out and connect.”
The downside of military moves is the impact on military spouse employment. Goodwin felt that pinch when her husband received orders to Alaska. “Military life forces you to get creative and work with what you’ve got.” Goodwin’s creativity led her to establish the podcast Run Lift Mom to encourage others to achieve their fitness goals.
Her record has now been broken several times, but Goodwin is friends with three of the four women who broke it. She even helped them with their applications. She declares “the best thing that came from this record has been giving moms confidence to say, ‘OK, I can make this work.’ Not everyone is going to be a runner, but everyone can be inspired to do 10 minutes while their child is napping.”
Inspired
One of the runners Goodwin has inspired is Pie Bell, a Marine Corps spouse who gave birth to quadruplets in 2014. Born at 24 weeks gestation, they spent over five months in the NICU, and one son did not survive. Two years later, she gave birth to their youngest child. “I sort of lost myself after that,” said Bell, about taking care of four little ones with a variety of special needs.
She had never been interested in running, but she knew she needed an activity that was just for her.
“A dear friend suggested I check out Stroller Warriors aboard Camp Pendleton. I was so intimidated and self-conscious. I had a good bit of weight to lose and I was embarrassed to be seen in exercise clothes. Stroller Warriors was starting their Couch to 5K program, so I joined in.”
Not only did Bell fit in and lose weight, but she also discovered a passion for running. “I love running because it is something I can do to separate myself from being just another Marine wife.” Soon, Bell was encouraged to train for a half-marathon. At the time, her quad stroller weighed 185 pounds with the four children in it. Because her husband was deployed, she had to train and race with the quad stroller.
“I wanted to give up at first, but my kids are what inspire me. I have all these little people, some of whom will never be able to run because they have very poor underdeveloped lungs, and one son who never lived to be able to even try. So I do it for all of them. My oldest child is in college. She has been a military brat for a long time and has handled so much in her short life. If she can endure all of that, I can run a simple 13 miles.”
One of Bell’s favorite running moments was completing that first half- marathon. She and all the children received a medal, and they still treasure the shared memory. She continues to do half-marathons and other races with the stroller, but the kids keep growing and the stroller now weighs 200 pounds! When asked if she will set a Guinness record, Bell replied, “Guinness doesn’t have a world record for pushing a quad stroller in a half-marathon … yet. Technically, I have run it in 2 hours 15 minutes with the stroller, but Guinness wants it to be done in under 2 hours. I think it could be done if someone pushed tiny babies in a race. But 200 pounds for 13.1 miles is pretty brutal.”
Like Goodwin, Bell sees running as an excellent passion for a military spouse: “I now look forward to PCSing so I can run in other states. And I know that wherever we go, I can find a group of runners and share something with them. It’s having that common interest that is unique when so much of our lives revolve around the Corps.”
