Stephanie Case breastfed her baby during a 100 km race — and won. But don't call it a comeback.

Yahoo

17-06-2025

Ultra-runner Stephanie Case made headlines last month after completing the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia run, a grueling 100-kilometer race through Wales's craggiest trails. It's not because it was her first competitive race in three years, or because she ran it six months after having a baby or even because she won the race by finishing in 17 hours, ahead of any other female competitor. It's because Case did all those things while also stopping to breastfeed her baby multiple times along the way. But as a new mom, what else was she going to do?
The 43-year-old Canadian athlete, human rights lawyer and founder of women's running advocacy organization Free to Run, says she wasn't aiming to do anything remarkable. She was simply participating in the sport that she loves while, you know, doing all the stuff postpartum moms have to do, like feeding the baby.
'[I was] doing what I'd like to do while also being a mom — and those two things aren't competing,' she tells me during a conversation for Yahoo Life's OT Diaries. 'Still, in 2025, we have very ingrained ideas about what a new mom should look like and what being a good mom means. And I think we are still expected somehow to give up ourselves … to forget about everything that existed as part of our identities before then.'
But she hasn't let that happen. Here, she talks more about her viral moment (not to mention the 'misogynistic' comments she's gotten alongside the accolades) and why her post-baby return to racing isn't a comeback; it's an upgrade.
Both me and my daughter had to get used to this idea of breastfeeding during training or racing. [My daughter] Pepper didn't take a bottle until quite recently, so for weeks and months leading up to my recent race, I would have to make sure that I didn't time out on a run. Oftentimes, I would go for a couple hours of running, I would come back to feed my daughter and then I would go out and finish with a couple more hours on my training run. She got used to feeding mid-run, I got used to feeding her mid-run, and that set us up pretty well for the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia race.
I didn't know actually how long [the race] would take me. It could have taken me 17 hours, like it did, or could have taken me 30 hours. But I knew that I would be out there for a really long time and I would need to feed Pepper during the course.
Runners were allowed to receive assistance at the 20-kilometer and 80-kilometer checkpoints, but that left quite a long 60-kilometer gap in the middle. And so I got special permission from the race organizers not to receive assistance, but to provide assistance to my daughter at the 50K checkpoint. And honestly, I didn't really think much of it. It was just kind of a normal occurrence in our lives during my training. So we just arranged for my partner, John, to bring Pepper to the aid stations and I would feed her as normal.
One of the great things about ultra-running is, you really can't get enough food. So I try not to be too strict about it because ultimately this is supposed to be fun. And as long as I'm just taking a balanced approach, it seems to be alright for me. … But now, I am a lot more focused on how many calories I'm taking while I'm out on the trails, whether in training or in racing, because I am feeding not just myself but also making sure that I have enough nutrition to feed my daughter while she's still breastfeeding.
I have become an advocate of high-carb fueling during racing. I had always avoided taking gels when I'm running and I just relied on solid food, pizza, potato chips, chicken McNuggets. … I would much rather have a piece of pizza than down a few sugary gels, but they do work.
In training for ultramarathons, I'm used to pushing my body to extremes, pushing myself to the limit. But after having a baby, I knew I needed to be smart, I needed to be careful. I knew that I wasn't this completely fragile being, as we sometimes think of new moms and we tell them, you should just rest and relax. No, I knew I could push it, but in a smart way. So I got a coach, Dr. Megan Roche, who has helped to guide me. She's a new mom herself, so I could really trust her in providing me the guidance that I needed to be able to come back to this sport in a safe and healthy way while still pushing the boundaries as a new mom. So it's been a great experience.
It's gone a lot better than I thought it would. And I feel quite lucky because we really don't know how long it will take or if we will be able to come back to the sport in the same way. That's why I'm quite clear that I don't like to talk about a comeback. … I'm not trying to regain any kind of pre-baby fitness or pre-baby body. I think we need to get rid of all of those ideas because it sets some standard that we might not be able to reach.
And I actually think that in my return to the sport, I'm better now than I was before. So if I had thought about this as a comeback, then I would have set a ceiling on where I could have reached in the sport. I have come back better. So that's why I like to just think of this as a new phase in my athletic career and in my relationship with running and the trails rather than as a return to anything.
I think some of the best athletes out there are multi-dimensional athletes who like to stretch and do strength work and they can bike ride and run and ski. I can do other sports, but I have to admit that that uncoordinated, clumsy, non-athlete kid in me is still there and all that I'm really good at is running and I love it. I absolutely love it. I run six days a week. There's no cross training for me. It's, I just like to kind of get lost in the woods and let my brain unwind.
In ultra-running and ultramarathons, the mental aspect is just as important, if not more important, than the physical aspect. As a human rights lawyer, I have lived in some of the most inhospitable, crazy places on Earth, where training has been less than ideal. … It has made my brain and my mind really strong. So I know that when I come into a competition, even if my training is subpar on the physical side, I might be able to make up for it on the mental side.
It's in these really low moments — when you are in a valley or top of a climb or 60 kilometers into a 100-kilometer race or 100 miles into a 200-mile race — when you can hit these really dark moments, and it isn't going to be muscle strength that gets you through those. It's your brain, it's your mind that tells you that you do have more left in the tank, that you are lucky to be out there moving and that the only person that's really going to get you to the finish line is you.
Being able to do that self-talk and prove to myself that I can get through those hard things. Each one reinforces the belief that I actually don't know how much I'm capable of until I try, until I push. And that's what I love about this sport.
My meditation is really my running. … I'm busy. I have a job. I'm a mom. I know there's a lot of moms out there who would love to have half an hour to themselves to journal or to sit in the hot bath or to do yoga. And there just doesn't seem to be that time in my day. So I find it with my training time. I use my time out on the trails to do that meditation. It's a moving meditation. So it's just another part of multitasking.
I think people look at something like a 100-kilometer race and they think it's impossible and they would never be able to do it. But I am telling you, I have done 100-kilometer races and I've done childbirth, and childbirth is harder. So any mom who is sitting there at home thinking that there is no way that they could do it, they have all of the strength they need in them to accomplish something like a 100-kilometer race — because childbirth is wild. So I know when I am out on the course and I'm having a pity party, if I feel like it's a hard thing, I remember back to what it was like actually having Pepper and it gets me right out of that slump and focused on hitting the finish line.
I had a lot of support to be able to get me there. Not everyone is able to do things like that, but we need to be opening up the space for more moms to be able to pursue their dreams if that's something that they want to do. We need to be providing a lot more support to moms, and we need to reduce the scrutiny and the judgment around how new moms prioritize their time. Doing things that make me happy and whole, I know, will make me a better mom. And it doesn't mean that I'm not prioritizing my daughter. In fact, I think it means that I am.
I would never force her into any sports, but the fact that she's growing up in the middle of the mountains in the French Alps [where Case's family currently lives] bodes well for her future athletic career. I personally cannot wait for the day when she kicks my butt in a race. And I don't know when that's going to be, but it's probably going to be sooner than I think.
My partner, John. Next would be my mom.
My comfort watch to really help me relax is actually reality TV. I am a huge fan of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
That's a hard one because there are things that I really like, but I don't feel guilty about it. I love ice cream. I love cheesecake. I wouldn't call them guilty pleasures. I just call them pleasures.
My biggest fear has always been failing. I've had to really teach myself to embrace the idea of failing. Because when we fail, it's just a sign that we have pushed ourselves outside of our comfort zone, and then we find out what our limit is. And that allows us to figure out how to surpass it.
I have been getting the ick from some of the online trolls lately. While the response to my race in Wales has been overwhelmingly positive, there have been some people making quite misogynistic comments, telling me that I've been selfish to do a race as a new mom, that I should be sitting at home with my baby, and they're questioning whether I even care about my baby at all. That gives me the ick because I think those are really outdated opinions about what new moms should be doing. And those questions and comments never would have been made of a new dad had they gone out and run six months after having a baby.
Diet Coke. I currently have a few on my desk in front of me. This is how I survive. This is my nutrition plan and I won't apologize for it. I am not a coffee drinker. I don't have energy drinks. I live on this elixir, unfortunately.
Well, now as a new mom, it's looking at Instagram reels of little babies doing just hilarious things or moms and dads doing little dances with their babies. I find them hysterical. I think it's important to bring a sense of humor to motherhood, so keep the reels coming.
My running shoes. Whenever I travel, I make sure that they're in my carry-on so that even if my luggage gets lost, I still have the ability to get outside and run in the wild.
There's one song that I'm listening to non-stop, but it's not for me. It's because it helps put my daughter to sleep. It's called 'Soulmates' and I know it by heart. … But my personal soundtrack when I'm on the trails really changes. It switches up a lot, and I often listen to podcasts.
I don't think I have any wellness trends that I swear by because a trend is something that kind of comes in and out of favor, and those can be dangerous. I think we just need to do the things that keep us healthy and sustainable long-term. And if it works, keep doing it. If it doesn't, try something else.
I am the best mom to Pepper that I can be.
I suppose I am trying to get better at relaxing — and that is a skill. It's something that some of us have to learn, particularly if we're used to [being] go, go, go all the time.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.