Ann Marie Cody, a NASA astronomer and mom to triplets, had loved running ever since she was a 10-year-old kid in Harvard, Massachusetts, seeing stories on Lynn Jennings setting national records and “leaving boys in the dust.”
After giving birth to her triplets in 2016, she experienced pain when trying to get back to running, and had to take a year off. She eased back into it by pushing her triplets in a three-seater pram in walks around the neighborhood.
“The babies seemed to enjoy relaxing and napping in the reclined seats,” Cody told Runner’s World. “Cody and the triplets on the podium at Wildflower 2019.”
In November of 2017, she signed up for her first half marathon at Fresno. She pushed the kids along with her—and broke her first Guinness record for the fastest half marathon pushing a triple pram with her 1:47:59 finish (That record was later broken by Cynthia Arnold, We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back).
Cody and the triplets at the Modesto Marathon in 2018 earned her the Guinness record Parker Valby Wins the Bowerman.
And, even as the kids get bigger—and heavier—she’s continuing to add on the accolades: This March, the Sunnyvale California mom earned another Guinness World Record during the Wildflower 10K in the Bay Area neighborhood of Morgan Hill, California. (Officials from Guinness are still in the process of ratifying it before it makes their books). Cody, who raced in the 30-39 age group, pushed the pram in 47:10.
Cody dominated Wildflower, winning her age group and coming in third overall (among non-stroller runners) in the women’s category.
Perhaps Cody’s most incredible feat is that she was able to push approximately 140 pounds and still finish in the time that she did.
“It’s increasingly challenging, but I like challenges,’’ Cody told Fox KTVU. “I tell people I’m basically pushing my own weight.”
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When Cody isn’t bike- or run-commuting the four miles from her home to her job at NASA, she’s running with the triplets and the pram on the weekends. She also runs some races solo, too.
“I am currently signed up for the Double Dipsea in mid-June,” Cody said. “It’s an epic northern California trail race that has about 4,000 feet of elevation gain over 13.8 miles. If I didn’t have kids, that’s the kind of race I’d do all the time.”
But she’s enjoying the time when the toddlers are little, and the time they are able to spend together racing. Still, she does admit that she and her husband are looking forward to when they can take the triplets to races “without worrying about them running off on us.”
