Mom Crushes Marathon Record -- While Pushing 3 Kids In Stroller

She crushed the previous record by over an hour — with the added weight of 3 kids and a stroller

If you’ve ever run a race — be it a 5K, half marathon, or marathon — you know how grueling it can be. If you’ve ever done so while pushing your kid in a stroller, you know that kicks the difficulty level up about 20 times. Now, imagine pushing three kids in a stroller and smashing a marathon record, which is what one incredible mom did in late June.

Sitting inside Cynthia Lauren Arnold’s stroller was six-year-old daughter, Marguerite, three-year-old son, Simon, and 21-month-old daughter, Asha, which added about 185 pounds (including the stroller) onto her run.

Not only did Arnold crush the record for a marathon whilst pushing a three-person stroller, crushing the previous record of four hours, six minutes (that’s a sub-7:20 pace), she made a quick popsicle stop for her babies at mile 14 — because she’s a badass.

If that’s not impressive enough (which would be odd), Arnold doubled up on her distance from 2018 when she broke the half-marathon, triple-stroller record by last July according to the Missoulian.

“It’s supposed to be fun for the kids,” Arnold said. “I have a bunch of friends who are coming down from Polson. It’s really going to be fun, I think. We’ve been running together all spring with this in mind.”

Most of her training runs were done alone, Arnold told Runner’s World, but she did occasionally take her kids with her to make sure she knew what it would take to add that much weight to her run. She limited those runs to just ten miles, taking them on one 17-mile long run right before the race for good measure.

“Summertime brings the annual running of the Missoula Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 5K,” HalfMarathon.net said on their website. This “gives runners a chance to run a high-elevation race through this city nestled in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, at an elevation of 3,200 feet above sea level.” Yep, she did this all at a 3,200 feet elevation.

Three world records later, Arnold said this year’s race was probably the last competitive race she’ll do with the kids, but she plans to run by herself again in 2020.

For Arnold, it’s about finding the balance between motherhood and a passion she’s had for years before she had kids.

“Running with the stroller has so many benefits for running parents,” she 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.”