Runner hopes to inspire by breastfeeding in 60-mile race win

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Rich Gill Stephanie Case, who has blonde-streaked brown hair in a ponytail with sunglasses on top of her head and is wearing an orange running top, sits breastfeeding her daughter Pepper outdoors. She is smiling at someone to the left of the camera. Two people's legs or torsos can be seen in the picture. A banner with mirror writing of The North Face is in the background.

When a photo of Stephanie Case breastfeeding her baby during an ultramarathon she won without realising made headlines, the Canadian runner envisaged two different responses.

One celebrating a new mum breaking down stereotypes of what women with a small baby can achieve. The other could leave women feeling she had set a "new, impossible standard" most mothers would never reach.

The 42-year-old human rights lawyer entered May's 100km (60 mile) Ultra-Trail Snowdonia in Eryri six months after giving birth to her daughter Pepper.

It followed a three-year journey through infertility, miscarriages and IVF which saw her step back from running the ultramarathons she grew to love.

Stephanie, who had competed in elite events including the UTMB race across the Alps, entered the Snowdonia ultra as a "warm-up" for the Hardrock 100 mile (167km) run in Colorado, USA, in July.

Rich Gill Stephanie Case is in the foreground of the photo. She wears a grey long-sleeved running top with a black hydration vest over it. She has a peaked black and grey cap on with sunglasses above the visor. One red earbud can be seen in her right ear. She is looking towards the right of the photo. A female runner is to her right and behind, and two male runners are behind her to the left. All three are slightly out of focus.

It was her first race since 2022, shortly before finding out she was pregnant, before miscarrying.

Because she had not competed for so long, she had no expectations besides managing the run while feeding Pepper.

She had permission to feed at three points along the course, which she completed in just under 17 hours, faster than any of the elite female runners.

Stephanie, who kept on running during postings for the UN in conflict zones like South Sudan, Afghanistan and Gaza, said lacing up her running shoes again was like reclaiming a core part of herself.

"It was so stabilising to know that all of the transformation and trauma I'd gone through trying to get pregnant and finally giving birth, that runner part of me was still there," she said.

She admitted the number of people in her situation – running a long, technical race, being female and a mum breastfeeding a young baby – was "very niche".

But she said she hoped her achievement could change the conversation around what is expected of new mothers.

"Women breastfeed, women race. It's just the two things together. Other women have done it before and they will do it again.

She said more stories of new mums doing things beyond "sitting at home taking care of the baby" were not being amplified enough.

But she said she did not want her achievements to make women feel "overwhelmed and pressured".

"If and when you do feel like setting a big goal, go for it because you deserve to pursue your own passions."

Just a few dozen miles away from Stephanie's unexpected win, another new mum was finding out how running could help with the mental health challenges that can come with having a baby.

Solicitor Enlli Williams, 28, said she had always been active, paddleboarding and walking from her home near Abersoch on the Llyn peninsula.

Enlli planned to join her cousin last year in the inaugural SheUltra, a 50km women-only ultramarathon on Llyn, but then got pregnant.

Enlli Williams Enlli is standing to the right of her partner, who is carrying baby Cali in a sling. She wears a white fluffy jacket with geometric black pattern on it and sunglasses and black trousers. Her partner has a dark winter jacket and dark trousers, and wears a woolly hat and sunglasses. The baby is wearing a warm all-in-one suit in white, with the hood up and a woollen hat underneath.

After her daughter Cali was born, she knew for health and wellbeing reasons she was "adamant" was going to run in this year's event.

"I struggled a lot at the beginning with Cali, although I probably didn't notice until the SheUltra how my mindset was, how down in the dumps I got.

"I struggled with anxiety, especially for the evenings. From five o'clock I was very anxious, thinking 'oh my gosh, we're not going to get any sleep'.

But she said walking to train for the race helped her "get me back".

Enlli Williams Enlli is on the beach with Cali in a black pram. Enlli has her hair loose and is smiling directly at the camera. She wears a dark, zip-up jacket over her purple runner's top. The rising sun is slightly bleaching out the top left of the photo. There are lots of people in the background, some with running equipment and bags. A starting banner with the words She Ultra on it can be seen in the near distance.

Like Stephanie, Enlli was breastfeeding and had to work out how to combine that with training.

"I don't think I walked more than four hours [consecutively] to prep because I was like, 'I'm not leaving her for more than that'.

"So my mum would come and meet me so I could feed her and carry on."

Enlli completed April's event in under 11 hours, stopping to feed six-month-old Cali and expressing while on the move by using a breast pump that fits inside a bra.

"It's so discreet now.... the pumps just slot in so you wouldn't really notice."

She said exercising during pregnancy and post-birth "helps me so much" and advised new mothers to keep as active as they could.

It's a message Sophie Power, the original poster girl for endurance breastfeeding, is keen to promote.

Alexis Berg/Strava Sophie Power is sitting in a chair holding her baby with her running top raised while simultaneously breastfeeding him and holding a pump to express milk on the other side of her chest. She is wearing running gear and is looking down at his face.To her left a male running is lying on the floor with his legs raised leaning on stacked seating. He appears to be sleeping or resting with eyes closed. A further runner is half in shot on the left. There is a backpack next to her and other running gear visible on the floor.

A photograph of her feeding her three-month old baby after completing the 100-mile (167km) UTMB in 2018 sent shockwaves through the racing world and beyond.

The race has a strict no-deferral policy for runners who became pregnant, so Sophie went through "hell on earth", racing soon after having her baby.

"That photo spoke to millions of women around the world," she said.

"It's not about the breastfeeding and the ultra.

"It's about the man next to me that's asleep and the struggle that women have to get back to fitness, to our own goals, to everything after [having a baby]."

The PH Balance Sophie Power is wearing a cropped bright orange sports bra-style top. She is pregnant in the picture and has black running bottoms on which sit underneath the base of her bump. She has curly medium brown hair which is in a ponytail. She is facing to the right and running with one arm in front and one behind, and is smiling. The background is an over-exposed slightly unfocused image of sunlight over a field or natural setting.

Sophie's photo and a subsequent campaign means elite runner who get pregnant can now get deferrals.

She set up the She Races charity to push for further gains, but like Stephanie, Sophie is more concerned about ordinary mums.

"When you're fit during pregnancy, labour's easier... recovery's easier, and your baby comes out fitter, with stronger lungs," said the Active Pregnancy Foundation ambassador.

All three women said mothers should be encouraged to exercise and hold on to the things that made them tick before having a baby.

"We don't lose ourselves and our identity in becoming mums," said Stephanie.

"We just have another layer."

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