Issue 403
Today’s feature is part one of a two-part story on pregnancy and professional running. I spoke with 12 pregnant or postpartum runners, two agents, and three other industry insiders, and it became clear in the process that all of the topics I wanted to cover wouldn’t fit into one article. I plan to send out part two—which looks more at the physical challenges of combining pregnancy and professional running—sometime this week, so expect an extra email from me.
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Brand support helps drive running’s baby boom, but challenges remain
Leading up to last September’s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, Grayson Murphy was feeling run down. She suspected she was dealing with overtraining, but just to cover all of her bases, she took a pregnancy test. She was shocked to learn, four days before the race, that it was positive.
Murphy, a two-time World Mountain Running Champion, was hoping to have a strong showing in the 45K (28-mile) race at worlds. Her shoe contract was up for renegotiation at the end of the year, and a good result could strengthen her case. With the go-ahead from her doctor, she started the race. But four hours in, vomiting and cramping, she had to drop out.
The next five months were some of the most stressful of her life as she adjusted to the idea that she was going to be a mother, dealt with an injury that had flared up during the race, and waited to see if any shoe companies would offer her a contract that would make it possible for her to continue her career. As the breadwinner for her growing family, she couldn’t afford a pay cut.
Not long ago, a situation like this might have spelled the end of a career. But in professional running, things are shifting. The sport is in the midst of a baby boom, as more athletes choose to have children mid-career, helped in part by better support from their shoe sponsors.
But pregnancy and the postpartum period still come with significant challenges, including financial strain during athletes’ time away from competition, and the demands of returning to elite training and competition as mothers.
As companies assessed her value, Murphy, who is due May 20, had no way of knowing how her pregnancy factored into the conversations. But by March, she had good news: She had signed a multi-year deal with Salomon. In a podcast appearance at the time of the announcement, she expressed her appreciation that they did not devalue her because of her pregnancy. “It didn’t seem to faze them,” she told Fast Women. “They see it as a positive thing.”
Obvious progress
Nike supports a number of pregnant and postpartum runners, and several recent signings stand out because of their timing. In 2025, Rachel Smith, a 2021 Olympian, negotiated a contract with the brand while pregnant with her second child. In January, weeks after having her first child, 2024 Olympian Whittni Morgan announced that she had signed with the brand. And in February, reigning U.S. 10,000m champion Emily Infeld, whose first child is due in August, became a Nike athlete again, after spending one year with another brand.
Many pregnant and postpartum professional runners still enter contract negotiations with a great deal of uncertainty. And some have had experiences—like reduced and withdrawn offers—that make them question whether they are being passed over or undervalued because of their pregnancy. But an increasing number of them are finding that at many companies, attitudes have changed.
One need not go far back to remember a time when many shoe companies’ support of pregnant and postpartum runners was not as good. In 2019, in two New York Times opinion pieces, Alysia Montaño, Kara Goucher, and Allyson Felix spoke out against Nike, Asics, and other companies for failing to provide adequate maternity protections for professional athletes. It proved to be a watershed moment for the sport, as companies began creating or strengthening existing policies to better support pregnant and postpartum athletes.
Some of the current baby boom is tied to the fact that 2026 is the first year since 2020 without an outdoor global championship in track & field. But the increased structural support is also contributing. “Having children used to be seen as a career-ender,” Montaño told Fast Women. “And what we’re seeing now is that it isn’t a career-ender [when an athlete has] support.”
For pregnant and postpartum athletes, Nike now waives performance-related reductions over an 18-month period, covering eight months of pregnancy and 10 months postpartum. Tanya Hvizdak, Global GM of Nike Running, told Fast Women that codifying the policy for all of their athletes helps alleviate any fear they might be feeling about the future of their athletic career and “allows them to truly be the best version of themselves through the maternity period.”
Many of the athletes competing today are quick to credit those who paved the way for the sport’s progress. “My heart aches for what [Felix, Montaño, and Goucher] went through,” Smith said. “I also feel so much gratitude for them for creating such change for pregnant and postpartum women.”
Behind-the-scenes struggles
Not all companies have such consistent policies, though. One runner initially hid her pregnancy from her sponsor because her contract didn’t include maternity protections. When she finally let the company know she was expecting, they supported her as they do their other pregnant athletes. But the uncertainty created a lot of undue stress in the early months of her pregnancy.
Molly Huddle, a 28-time national champion, said many people assume that once shoe companies added maternity protections to athletes’ contracts, the issue was largely resolved. But she has recently heard from athletes who have had those protections removed during the renegotiation process. “Whether they stay in or not can depend on who’s sitting at the table—what agent, what athlete, and what person is at that shoe company,” she said.
Agent Ray Flynn told Fast Women that companies now see pregnancy as a plus in many ways. “There may be some contracts out there that don’t [include maternity protections], but all of the shoe companies are supporting their athletes during pregnancy now, and optically, it would be a very bad look for them if they didn’t. There is broad support now for top female athletes who have contractual agreements during the term of their pregnancy.”
Still, Huddle pointed out that there can be significant turnover in sports marketing roles at companies, so it’s important to have that support in writing, even if an athlete has a great relationship with individuals at a brand.
She also thinks brands often miss opportunities to collaborate with pregnant athletes, through content, appearances, or product testing, which could support marketing goals and ease the pressure some athletes feel to justify their contracts. “In my experience, you’re just kind of on the shelf until you return to racing,” she said.
Most of the smaller brand deals that runners have do not include maternity protections. That’s partly because these agreements are often shorter term and more social media-based than performance-based, and pregnancy doesn’t prevent athletes from fulfilling their contractual obligations. But one of those deals drew significant attention last month when Emma Bates alleged in an Instagram reel that her fueling company dropped her after she told them she was pregnant. The online backlash was swift.
The company, UCan, has disputed Bates’ account of the situation. But the moment highlighted how strongly running fans rally behind pregnant athletes and served as a reminder of what can happen when a brand is perceived to be unsupportive of pregnant and postpartum women.
Financial struggles persist
Shoe contracts generally guarantee athletes their base pay for a set period during pregnancy and postpartum. But stepping away from competition still has financial consequences. When athletes are not racing, they miss out on opportunities to earn prize money and appearance fees and hit performance-related bonuses built into their contracts. For some athletes, it’s a significant financial sacrifice that comes at a time when their expenses are going up.
And while things have gotten better for athletes who have shoe contracts, those improvements don’t benefit runners who are between deals. Anna Camp-Bennett, the 2021 NCAA 1500m champion, learned she was pregnant not long before she ran the final race of her 2025 season, September’s Fifth Avenue Mile.
Her contract with Adidas was up at the end of 2025, and though the brand had the option to extend it for an additional year, she learned in late December that they had declined to do so. Camp-Bennett is grateful for her time with Adidas and understanding of the decision they made. “I didn’t have a super great year last year,” she said. “I wish they would have taken my option year, but it’s totally okay that they didn’t. If I did think it was [because I was pregnant], I would be loud about it. But I think it was more performance-based.”
Camp-Bennett, whose first child is due on May 10, was initially told that there wasn’t much she could do about securing a contract with another brand until she was back to racing. “I sat with that for a while—that I wasn’t going to get something until 2027—and then I realized that actually I do have a little bit more control over my own life than I think, so maybe let’s start to try,” she said. “The worst [that could happen] is that I’d be in the same situation I’m in now.”
She’s hoping to secure a shoe contract before too long, and she plans to continue racing. She has a bit of a safety net thanks to Utah’s Run Elite Program (REP), which covers some of her athletic-related medical costs and travel expenses. “It makes it a lot easier when you’re not having to spend a ton of money to run,” she said. “So they’re huge in me being able to not stress too much about it.”
Tristin Colley, a 2:25 marathoner, also found herself facing financial uncertainty early in her pregnancy. She didn’t have a shoe contract, but her team, ZAP Endurance, served a similar function as a brand sponsorship, providing her with a base salary and a bonus structure. Colley was in the midst of her Chicago Marathon build when she found out she was pregnant, and she told her coaches right away, so they’d know she was no longer preparing for the race.
It turned out ZAP head coach Pete Rea had news of his own. After 25 years in business, ZAP was disbanding at the end of 2025. He had planned to tell the team after Chicago, but in light of Colley’s news, he moved the announcement up, so she and her husband, Andrew, who was also a member of the team, would have more time to come up with a backup plan.
“It was like finding out we’re pregnant, both of us losing our jobs, and then having to move, too—so three major life events happening at once,” she said. “And because I was in my first trimester, my hormones were crazy, and I was crying every day. But we’re slowly figuring it out.”
ZAP was the only thing keeping the Colleys in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, so they’ve since moved to Raleigh, where Colley has a lot of family support. They’re planning to continue running at the elite level, and they’re holding out hope that they can secure the financial support to make that possible. In the meantime, Colley earns some money through online coaching and has received physical therapy support and financial assistance from Run Raleigh as well as a maternity grant from the USATF Foundation. She’s not opposed to taking on additional work if it becomes necessary, but her daughter arrived on April 1, so she has her hands full at the moment.
Two weeks before giving birth, Colley described feeling pulled in two directions. “I’ve been careful to put the baby first in training, but I keep thinking I need to keep my fitness up so I can come back quickly, start making money again, and hopefully earn a good contract,” she said. “But I also want to do what’s best for the baby and what’s best for my body. I don’t want to jump into it too quick.”
Getting by as an unsponsored runner and mom
Over the past 20 years, the USATF Foundation has provided financial assistance to elite American track & field athletes. After identifying the need, the foundation also began awarding maternity grants in 2021 and has since distributed $85,000 to 21 women, including eight of the 12 athletes who spoke to Fast Women.
The foundation has played a key role in helping Olympian Marisa Howard stay in the sport. “They have largely funded my career for the last five years,” she said. “Had I not had their support, I would have had a much more difficult time doing this.”
Howard had a small sponsorship contract with Oiselle from 2015 to 2017, but she has never had a shoe contract. She previously worked as a school nurse, but she left that role in 2020. She and her husband now live off of his high school teaching income. Howard had her first child in May 2022 and two years later, she qualified to represent the U.S. in the steeplechase at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Seeing what she could do with two years to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Trials, Howard wondered what she could accomplish in three, so she planned to try for another baby soon after the Games. She learned she was pregnant in early September 2024, but later that month, about six weeks in, she sadly suffered a miscarriage.
Howard was able to earn health insurance through the USOPC for the last four months of 2024. She benefited from the organization’s policy—which was also changed after Montaño, Goucher, and Felix spoke out in 2019—that if an athlete becomes pregnant while on the insurance, they will receive the same level of support until one year after the pregnancy ends. Howard appreciated that the policy extended to miscarriage as well. But she learned she was pregnant again in November 2024, which reset the clock, and she’ll remain on the USOPC insurance through August 2026, when her daughter turns one.
Having her health care covered is a significant perk. Because pro runners tend to be independent contractors, most of them purchase their own insurance or get it through a spouse’s job.
Howard relies on her parents, in-laws, and the local YMCA for child care, which helps keep her costs low. And her husband takes over when he gets home from school in the afternoons. When she travels for races, she’ll stay with a friend, when possible. She also embraces opportunities to pace races at track meets, which helps her earn some cash or get some of her travel expenses covered.
Howard has found with both of her postpartum experiences that getting back into racing again can be expensive. In February, six months after having her second child, she ran 1:10:34 to win the Ventura Half Marathon. She paid her own way to the race, and that’s where the USATF Foundation funds have been helpful. Howard hopes to race July’s USATF Outdoor Championships, but because the meet is in New York City this year, she’s still assessing whether it’s a trip she can afford to make.
Even as an Olympian, making a living in the sport is far from guaranteed. And doing it with two children adds an extra degree of difficulty. “Most years I break even or I come out a little bit on top,” she said. “And I think if I can continue to do that, then I want to try to stay in the sport as long as I can.”
(Edit: Part two of this story is now available here.)
At last, Emma Grace Hurley wins her first national title
In recent years, few athletes, if any, have earned more second- and third-place finishes at U.S. road championships than Emma Grace Hurley. But in the process, she has built herself into one of the best U.S. distance runners on any surface. On Sunday, everything finally came together for her as she kicked to win her first national title at the USATF 10 Mile Championships, hosted by the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. The accomplishment was especially meaningful as it came against a high quality field.
Because the national championship was a race within a race, the field featured some excellent international runners as well. With just over a mile to go, Ethiopia’s Asayech Ayichew put in a surge and a pack of five became four as Karissa Schweizer, who was running her longest race yet, dropped off the back.
It was down to Ayichew, Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyek, Hurley, and Weini Kelati. With about 1K to go, Ayichew broke away, Cheptoyek dropped to second, and Kelati began to put distance on Hurley. It looked like they might finish in that order, but then Hurley came storming back on a small climb. With about 300m to go, she passed Kelati, and then, temporarily, Cheptoyek.
Ayichew, who finished fourth at world cross in January and has run 29:43 for 10K, won comfortably in 50:37. (When the lead pack hit 5K in 16:09, at 5:12/mile, it became pretty clear Taylor Roe’s event record of 49:53 from last year would be safe.) Cheptoyek, who was second at world cross and has run 30:03 for 10K, passed Hurley with less than 100m to go and took second in 50:41.
Hurley finished third overall and held off Kelati, 50:42 to 50:46. After getting gapped, Schweizer held herself together well in the last mile and took fifth in 50:55. Molly Born (seventh overall, 51:36) was the next American across the line, and I was impressed by Kassie Parker, who took eighth in 52:01.
I expected to see Ednah Kurgat among the leaders, but she dropped back before 10K and finished 12th in 52:18. Any number of factors could have been at play, but she’s only two weeks removed from running a 1:08:25 at the Prague Half Marathon.
The first thing Hurley said in her post-race interview was, “I’m really happy no one can make any more jokes about how I’m always second or third.” (Results)
Other News
When Alicia Monson underwent meniscus surgery in 2024, her surgeon grafted tissue from her hamstring. Jonathan Gault reports that the good news is that her knee is doing well, but she’s had some problems with her hamstring. Her coach, Dathan Ritzenhein, told Gault that she is hoping to return to racing in late May or early June.
Gracie Morris and Addy Wiley headline the field for the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships, which will take place April 21 in Des Moines, Iowa. The top two finishers will qualify to represent the U.S. at the World Athletics Road Running Championships.
This Athletics Weekly feature about Great Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery running and racing through pregnancy is behind a paywall, but if you have access, it’s a good read. And while I’m on the topic, I appreciate that Australia’s Jessica Stenson has a YouTube channel dedicated to the topic of pregnancy, motherhood, and marathon running.
World Athletics announced that starting in 2030, they plan to host a standalone World Marathon Championships, instead of holding the event in conjunction with the World Athletics Championships. I want to hear more details, but on the surface, this sounds promising. There’s so much magic and money in the marathon, and right now World Athletics is missing out on a lot of that. I’m curious what, if anything, they plan to do to compete with the major marathons, who can offer substantial appearance fees. And I assume the competition calendar is going to be quite crowded in Olympic years, especially for U.S. athletes who have a Trials race. (I’m selfishly kind of hoping the men get the even years, but when the calendar is crowded, more athletes tend to get cool opportunities.)
Former Arkansas star Sydney (Thorvaldson) Vaught has signed a pro contract with Nike.
Great Britain’s Sarah Tait, a 9:18 steepler who spent a couple years at West Virginia University, has signed with On and joined OAC Oceania, and Susan Ejore-Sanders has officially joined the OAC Global team.
I have a hard time following The Speed Project, so I appreciated this post about the group of women, all strangers going into the race, who broke the all-women’s record by nearly three hours.
If I had read this Cynthia Erivo Q&A (Runner’s World) when it was published, I would have known sooner that Erika Kemp is coaching her leading up to the London Marathon. Brooks brought them together and I appreciate that they use their pro athletes in this way.
Additional Results
Much was made of the 1500m showdown between Jessica Hull and Claudia Hollingsworth at the Australian Athletics Championships, and it was such a bummer of a race in the end as Hull went down hard in the homestretch. Hollingsworth went on to win and was initially DQed before being reinstated. You can watch the full race here and decide whether you think it was the right call. But there’s no question that Hollingsworth, 20, is going to be one to watch this season and beyond. Hull had planned to triple but she scratched from the 800m before returning to win the 5,000m in 15:13.21. Abbey Caldwell won the 800 in 1:58.57, and Hollingsworth took second in 1:58.91. Cara Feain-Ryan dominated the steeplechase, running 9:35.87. (Results)
I think we’re seeing more and more that a lot of the top NCAA middle-distance and distance runners tend to congregate at the same meets, where they’re guaranteed good competition. So it was fun to see Oklahoma State’s Billah Jepkirui show up in the Arkansas Spring Invitational results. With a little pacing help from a teammate, she ran an NCAA-leading 4:04.59 1500m and won the race by 25 seconds. (Results)
Ethiopia’s Shure Demise won the Paris Marathon in 2:18:34. With a little rabbiting help from Annie Rodenfels and others, Maggie Montoya finished ninth in a personal best of 2:27:04. According to her Instagram stories, that included a 40-second bathroom break. (Results)
Ethiopia’s Mekides Shimeles won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:18:56. Jackie Gaughan, the top U.S. runner (edit: in the elite field), finished 11th in 2:38:55. (Results) Edit: I originally missed Erika Fluehr in the results, and looking at that results link as well as World Athletics’ version of the results, I can see why. But she had an excellent run in the sub-elite field and was the fastest American of the day, running a chip time of 2:37:00, which is huge because she hit U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time right on the dot. Her twin sister, who has already qualified for the Trials, joined her for the first 20 miles. This is a better results link, filter so you’re just looking at the “vrouwen.”
Ethiopia’s Yeshi Kalayu Chekole won the Milan Marathon in 2:20:15. And thanks to this newsletter’s editor for pointing out that Ireland’s Christine Kennedy, 71, ran an impressive 3:39:17. (Results)
Germany’s Domenika Mayer won the Hannover Marathon in 2:21:26. (Results)
Canada’s Simone Plourde won the Carlsbad 5000 in 15:30. (Results)
Allie Ostrander won Austin’s Capitol 10K in 32:45. (Results)
Rachel Schilkowsky won the Scranton Half Marathon in 1:12:42. (Results)
South Africa’s Gerda Steyn won the Two Oceans Marathon for the seventh time, running 3:27:43 for 56K. (Recap)
Jennifer Lichter won the Gorge Waterfalls 50K in 4:08:02, Lauren Gregory won the 30K in 2:13:37, and Lotti Brinks won the 100K in 9:06:23. (Results)
Sarah Morrison won the USATF 100K Championships in 7:17:02. Allison Mercer took second, and was the top masters finisher, in 7:30:53. Both qualified to represent the U.S. at the IAU 100K World Championships in September. (Results)
I appreciate this Marathon des Sables recap from iRunfar. France’s Maryline Nakache dominated the seven-day, 168-mile stage race, winning with a cumulative time of 25:54:29. Racing far longer than she ever had before, Des Linden finished third in 30:16:32. Linden definitely had the best content team out there. (Results)
Heather Jackson won the Desert RATS 100K in 9:45:12, and Sarah Carter won the 50K in 4:09:45. (Results)
Hannah Allgood won the Lake Sonoma 50K in 4:19:36, and Great Britain’s Fiona Pascall won the 100K in 10:13:24. (Results)
Podcast Highlights
Dom Scott was on C Tolle Run and I appreciated her vulnerability as she discussed her decision to step away from professional running but remain in the sport. I think runners of all speeds who have made a decision to stop trying to put their all into running PRs will be able to relate.
I enjoyed getting a pre-Boston Marathon Emily Sisson update on the Ali on the Run Show. Sisson said that she tweaked her hamstring at the NYC Half, but she described it as a “tiny little setback,” so hopefully that was the last we’ll ever hear of it.
Mary Kate Shea, who assembles the pro fields for the Boston Marathon, was on Good Game with Sarah Spain (starting around the 15:00 mark).
On Women of Distance, trail runners EmKay Sullivan, Grayson Murphy, Mary Daniels, and Rachel Tomajczyk discussed pregnancy and motherhood in sport (a theme this week).
It was good to get a post-surgery update from Keira D’Amato on Stupid Questions with Seth Hill. She said that she talked to six different surgeons before going ahead with the procedure. She drove out for an appointment with the sixth one in Vail, Colorado, and two days later, he was operating on her. She also had an Instagram post with a little bit of an update last week.
Additional Episodes: Amanda Vestri on Citius Mag | Jess McClain on the Marathon Handbook Podcast | Jenny Simpson on I’ll Have Another | Laura Thweatt on the Lactic Acid Podcast | Fiona O’Keeffe on RunWithAlliLive | Abby Shoemaker on Road to the Trials
Thanks again to SOAR for sponsoring this newsletter for the remainder of the month and make sure to enter the giveaway mentioned above! Thanks, also, to all of you who have helped keep Fast Women going with your support via Venmo or Patreon.
As mentioned at the top, hopefully you’ll be hearing from me again soon. I still need to write all of the second article, so the timing is TBD. Normally when I take on a project of this magnitude, I do the interviews over a longer span of time. But with this project, I tried to work as quickly as possible, because I didn’t want anyone’s status to change too much between when I spoke with them and when the articles came out.
I hope you all have the best week possible.
Alison
Love this. Thank you for this work! Can’t wait for part 2
This is super interesting and something I’ve been curious about as a postpartum runner myself. I can’t imagine the pressure this puts on professional runners… on top of everything that already comes with being a new mom 🤯