Meet the woman who ran marathons while seven months pregnant

The criticism that is coming to her is absolutely baffling to me. Here's Anthony. What do you think pregnant women did 50,000 years ago? Do you think they sat on the sofa all day? Isn't it more dangerous to sit around eating cakes? Thanks. Another text on 84850. Tom, this lady is awesome and should be celebrated. Here's Stuart. What an upside-down world we live in. When a woman gets criticised for staying fit while pregnant, yet if you criticise a woman who is obese while pregnant, you are body-shaming, suggests Stuart. Well... Bare body. First of all, congratulations on the pregnancy and congratulations on the times of your marathon runs. They're extraordinary. Oh, thank you, Tom. I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I wonder whether you were expecting the criticism that has followed your many marathon runs whilst, at some stages during this, 34 weeks pregnant. No, it was a very personal decision to decide to run each marathon pregnant, and I obviously didn't expect to go viral, and a lot of people have weighed in with their opinions for better or for worse, which has been interesting, but I feel like that's life whenever you're in the public spotlight, whether you want to be or not. So you'd already signed up to various marathons, because I think, listen, Deidre, I'll be honest with you, the idea of running a marathon fills me with deep, deep dread. I could just about do a half, but the idea of running it full, let alone whilst pregnant, fills me with dread. You signed up for a lot of marathons last year. I did, yeah. So you've done Boston, you've done London, and then you've discovered you were pregnant. Exactly. I got married the end of last year. And in my mind, I thought this year would be my last hurrah, my last year to kind of get it all in before I started this motherhood journey. Truthfully, I thought my, I thought it'd be more difficult to get pregnant because I'm older and, you know, you just hear so many stories about how hard it can be. And it was, I was very surprised to find out. right after the London Marathon that I was indeed pregnant and that at that point I was six weeks pregnant. I really had to come to terms of like what the rest of the year would look like. It was a lot of compromising between my husband and myself because I also had some ultra marathons I was signed up for. I was signed up for my first ever Ironman like I took this year this last year of freedom quite literally and seriously. Yeah some people go and lie on a beach Deidre. I know not me. So there you are with all these marathons lined up. You're six weeks pregnant. Do you have a conversation with your doctor to say, hey, I'm still going to do this? Yes. So first I had to have the conversation with my husband. Yeah. And what does he say? To see what his thoughts were. And initially, I think I was a little bit shell-shocked. And there's a lot of like self-identity that you need to work through. Or I think a lot of new mothers and pregnant women need to work through when you're making such a massive life transition like this. And I... Wasn't entirely sure at that point, like, could I still do an ultra marathon? I was supposed to do a hundred mile race in the Alps. And my husband kind of brought me back to reality. He was like, okay, let's, you are an experienced and seasoned marathoner. But let's not push ourselves under extreme conditions like the weather and being awake for over 24 hours and also for an Ironman, like the risk of falling off a bike and swimming. So we compromised on if my OB gave the go ahead, I could go ahead with the other six marathons I had at the time, or it was five marathons. And thankfully, I had a very open-minded OB who was very read into current literature. Right. And she said, take it a marathon at a time. And as long as you're not pushing yourself and you feel OK. Hang on. As long as you're not pushing yourself, you're doing a marathon. I know. But there's a difference between doing a seven-minute mile and a nine-and-a-half-minute mile. Well. Yeah, they're not times I'm going to get down to, I'll be honest, Deidre. But that's not me. So you line up on the start line. You're obviously very visibly pregnant. What are the runners around you saying as you embark on yet another marathon? People around me were so supportive. I got cheers not only from the crowd, but also from runners. Women were running by and being like, go mama, like you got this, you're inspiring me. And then, as you know, there's a lot of like. Tourists and people come from abroad to run these international marathons. So I found a lot of people taking videos and photos with me while I was running, which was a unique experience. And so there you are having a great time and you're running your race and everyone's supportive of you and you start to get criticism. That criticism, I guess, must be around the lines of the damage that you might be doing to your unborn child. Yes. It was interesting to read some of the comments, like things I've never heard before, like umbilical cord getting wrapped around the neck or someone was so sweet and wrote her baby's going to be scrambled eggs. And it's not based on any sort of medical research or knowledge. It's just people's personal opinions, which you have to just differentiate. I mean, like people are going to have negative reactions no matter what you do in life. That's just the reality. There's obviously a concern that people would have. You obviously displayed that concern by speaking to your doctor about what would the medical effects potentially be. And so that's a display of that concern. I'm I'm Do you think there's a degree of jealousy? I think everyone has their... own motherhood experience and then when men jump into the conversation it's always interesting because it's a whole different factor yeah but with negative oh there's a conversation going on I think we'll join in with the men yes yes we have some thoughts about what you should and should not do with your body um But I don't know. I really did not try to psychoanalyze where people were coming from because you can't let it impact your mental space, right? Like I have a lot going on and I'm trying to do the best for myself and my unborn child. And I did my due diligence. I don't think they did before leaving those comments. And maybe there's an idea, an expectancy of what a pregnant woman should and should not be doing, possibly from women as well as men. A pregnant woman should not be running multiple marathons, they think. Yeah, there's a lot of traditional conservative views of what are women expected to do and where they stand, and that's unfortunate. I think we're trying to get past those old-fashioned way of thinking, Unfortunately, some people hold on to those thoughts. So have you got any more marathons planned? Not while pregnant. I will be back. Yeah, I'll be back next year at Boston and I'll do Cork in Ireland. Wow, so you're going to do two more marathons after you've had your baby? Oh, yeah, and I'll do Chicago and New York again next year, too. Holy moly. I know it's going to look quite different postpartum when I actually, the baby's here, but I want my child to look up to me someday and know that his mom can do hard things, and therefore he also wants to do hard things. And I was just thinking about all... Is this your first, Deirdre? This is my first round, yes. I was just thinking about all the mums then who might be thinking as they run a marathon almost immediately after having given birth about their pelvic floor, but maybe we shouldn't go there. Yes. Well, I would not do that. I would not advise that. There's a reason they tell you to take a couple of months off. And I wonder whether you will be seeking from the marathons that you have run whilst you have been pregnant, whether you should be seeking a medal for presumably the youngest person ever to have completed multiple marathons will be your unborn son. I know I should have gotten a second round of medals. I think that's going to have to There's not much storage space in New York City apartments, so keeping the ones I have already accumulate. Well, we wish you the very best, not just for those marathons when they come around, but of course, for when it is time. Thank you so much for coming on. It's been a pleasure speaking to you. Deirdre Keene, mum-to-be, gone viral for running those seven marathons while pregnant. What an absolutely extraordinary story. And what a lesson, again, as Deirdre said there, for her son, for her child, about mums being able to do hard things, about the level of expectation, perhaps around pregnant women that know you can't run the marathon because you're pregnant. Well, the doctor said it's fine, so I'm going to do it anyway. I think that's fantastic. Don't you? People will criticise anything for any reason. Even if it's a fundamentally good thing done with all the due diligence that you would want to have done when you're very pregnant and you're doing an event like that, and people are still criticising it.