We know moms are amazing. But one mom took amazing to a whole new level when she completed an incredible physical and mental feat. Sophie Power, a British mom of three, is an ultra runner. She ran one of the toughest courses ever in 2018.
But not only was the 166 km distance (that's around 103 miles) extremely challenging, Sophie was also only three months postpartum. For a breastfeeding mom, that created an entirely different challenge on the race course — how to navigate engorged breasts and nursing her infant all while running.
After running for about 16 hours, Sophie's husband was able to meet her at a stop along the course so she could nurse her son, Cormac. Up until that point, she'd been using a hand pump. Luckily, a photographer captured the stunning moment.
The image of Sophie nursing her son is absolutely breathtaking. It was captured by a photographer for Strava, Alexis Berg. The incredible image shows Sophie breastfeeding her 3-month-old baby at a stop during the race with a breastpump on her other breast.
The image is so amazing to see, particularly because we just don't see pictures of breastfeeding moms running races very often. We don't think about how amazing that feat is.
This amazing image shows just how incredibly tough moms are. Breastfeeding on its own is physically and mentally taxing. Breastfeeding while running an ultra race is a little bit superhuman.
Sophie opened up about the experience to Runner's World. "Oh my god I was in agony!" she said about the time leading up to getting to her baby. "Cormac usually feeds every 3 hours and it took me 16 to get to Courmayeur where he could first meet me so I was hand expressing everywhere I could en route. I was so relieved he was hungry!" she explained.
The image inspired so many people because it really showed how much moms go through to accomplish their goals. It was genuinely something to marvel at. Sophie touched on the power of the image in a social media post, writing, "It’s a story about the daily struggle of being a new Mum. A story about the need to nurture our babies the best we can. And the importance to prioritise our physical and mental health – to be ourselves as well as be a mother."
The image also opened up some necessary conversations about breastfeeding. It's shocking, but not everyone is comfortable with women nursing their babies when they need to. Sophie pointed out how disappointing it was to see people calling breastfeeding "gross" or "selfish" in reference to the photo.
Still, most people can agree that the fact that Sophie could run that race while stopping to breastfeed a 3-month-old is nothing short of incredible. Of course, she had to change the way she ran the race. "I couldn't raise my heart rate too much as my body isn't primed to burn fat and I couldn't fully run downhills to protect my pelvis," she said. "In a typical race I would get in and out of the aid stations as quickly as possible but here I had to focus on keeping down enough food for me and for Cormac, and resting."
Sophie credits staying active while pregnant with helping her complete the race and prepare for motherhood. "During pregnancy, it felt like all the advice was to put your feet up and get fat, as anything else was taking a risk," she said. "This is not the best way to prepare for motherhood — staying fit, healthy and strong is so important and how you can safely do that needs to be talked about more."
The photo seems to have really changed Sophie's life. She has a massive social media following, and she shares her experiences with staying active through pregnancy and motherhood on podcasts and in publications.
Sophie now has a brand-new baby — a little girl — making her a mom of three. By the looks of things, she's already back to working out and preparing for her next race. She's truly an inspiration.
