Holland Neff, 11 months, was the first competitor to cross the finish line at Saturday’s Katy Half Marathon in Katy, Texas. She was followed closely by her father, Calum Neff, 31, of Houston, who set a pending stroller half marathon Guinness world record of 1:11:27.
Neff shattered the existing record of 1:13:50, run by Travis Boyd at the 2013 Heroes Half Marathon, by more than two minutes, with an average pace of 5:27 per mile. He won the race by nearly six minutes, and he used a GoPro to broadcast his run live on Periscope.
Though it may be a few years before Holland has a full appreciation of her accomplishment, her father told Runner’s World by phone that she appeared to enjoy herself.
“She was happy for probably 99 percent of the way—she was clapping, babbling away, and raising her arms—but around mile 10 to 12, she was a little fussy,” Neff said. “We had her wrapped up really well, just to keep warm, so she was probably just wanting to get out.”
Neff said that because her fussing occurred so late in the race, he knew that the best thing would just be to pick up the pace and get Holland to the finish line quickly.
“Had she started getting fussy early on, the record would have been off, that’s no question,” Neff said. “The first importance was just her being comfortable and safe. When you hear that cry, everything goes out the window.”
Both Neffs got a lot of cheers along the way, thanks to an out-and-back section of the course.
“Everyone was just hooping and hollering, yelling, ‘Go Cal!’” Neff said.
Neff, who used a Thule Glide stroller, said he’d been thinking about making a record attempt off and on since his daughter was born nearly a year ago, and that he looks up to other fathers who have accomplished similar feats. He and his other daughter, Alessandra, now 3, have an impressive racing record as well, as he’s pushed her to a 15:43 5K.
Neff does most of his running without a stroller, but says stroller running supplements his regular training nicely, and it’s a good opportunity to give his wife some quiet time. Around Christmas, he enjoyed taking both girls out in a double stroller, using a Bluetooth speaker to play music while they checked out local light displays. He says the addition of music usually buys him a few additional miles of contentedness.
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Neff, a Canadian citizen, balances his training with full-time work as an operations manager for an oil field company.
“I think you find a balance,” Neff said. “If anything, you just get really good at time management and knowing how to go and get your run done, and my wife is just so supportive and helpful with everything.”
He’s run a 1:08 half marathon without a stroller, though he says he could probably beat that right now. He’s represented Canada twice at the World Mountain Running Championships, and he ran 2:23:19, 20 seconds off his marathon PR, despite hamstring cramps, at last month’s Houston Marathon. He’ll race again next weekend, without a stroller, at the L.A. Marathon, which he says is “more for fun, but we’ll see what happens.”
Neff says he might not be done attempting stroller records. Though he doesn’t have anything specific planned yet, Neff says that he would like to take a shot at the marathon record at some point, which was set by Michael Wardian in 2007 with a 2:42:21.
