MARATHON MUM PUSHES TO RECORD
NOT many new mums attempt to set a marathon world record six months after giving birth – but that’s exactly what Jessica Bruce did. Jessica, from Ceredigion, had her second child, Emilia, six months ago. Last Sunday she set a new world record for running a marathon pushing a double buggy.
The 43-year-old ran the Abingdon Marathon with Emilia and two-yearold son Daniel in a double pushchair in three hours, 22 minutes and five seconds.
“I have always been a runner and so has my husband,” said Jessica, who now lives in Bristol.
“When we had Daniel we were trying to think of how to keep it going. We thought that we were pushing this buggy anyway so may as well run.
“When Emilia came along six months ago I thought I would do it with both. They have had to put in the hours training as well.”
According to Jessica, who already has the record for the fastest marathon with a single buggy, it pushes your body in a completely different way to normal running.
“It is such a different way of running,” she said. “It hurts different parts of your body.
“I had 10 days off running with it for a holiday and I realised how hard it is when I came back. You have no movement of your arms and tend to take shorter steps.
“I ache in different places to nor- mal running. Your back and shoulders hurt as much as your legs and it is as much an upper body as a lower body workout.”
Daniel and Emilia, now technically world record-holders in their own right, may be small but their weight adds up.
“I should have had them on a race diet,” joked Jessica.
“Daniel weighs 12 kilos and the whole lot together was about 30kg.
“They were both really good. We put them to bed late and, like with training, tried to time it with nap time.
“Daniel was asleep on the line before we started – we timed it well.
“I put both their names on the front and Daniel had a horn.”
Like any athlete trying to break a world record Jessica needs the best kit.
“It is a proper running buggy,” she said. “There are only two twin running buggies on the market and I went for the lightest.
“It is a huge machine. You would not use it for going down the shops – it has a full-on suspension.”
As no one had previously taken on a marathon with a double buggy there was no current record set.
In order to qualify Guinness set a target for competitors to beat – four hours 30 minutes in the race for a female pushing a double pram – a target Jessica smashed by more than an hour.