- 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials winner U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials winner.
- How to Train Safely Throughout Your Pregnancy.
- While Tuliamuk has not raced since the Trials in February, she has continued training into her eighth month of pregnancy.
Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won the Olympic Marathon Trials in February in Atlanta to make her first Olympic team, has announced she is expecting.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below post on her Instagram page that she plans to compete at the Games in August. The women’s marathon is scheduled for August 7 in Sapporo, Japan.
It will be the first child for Tuliamuk, 31. She and her partner, Tim Gannon, divide their time between Flagstaff, Arizona, where she trains with Northern Arizona Elite, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he works as a physician assistant.
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Tuliamuk said in an email interview with Runner’s World that she has been feeling well and running throughout her pregnancy (a full version of that interview is below). For the first 18 weeks, she was running 70–80 miles per week, with intense workouts and 20-mile long runs. Her training log on Final Surge shows that now, into her eighth month of pregnancy, she has been putting in between 6 and 9 miles per day at roughly 8-minute pace.
“All through my pregnancy, I’ve felt great,” Tuliamuk wrote. “I’m not running as fast or as much as I normally do right now, but aside from some occasional discomfort, I don’t feel any different. Getting out to run has been something I look forward to all through my pregnancy.”
She added that sometimes while she is running, she talks to her daughter, who will be named Zoe, to “ask her if she is enjoying it as much as her mother is.”
This will be an unconventional buildup to the Olympics for Tuliamuk, because she will only have about six months to recover from the physical demands of pregnancy and childbirth, and train for a marathon against the world’s best runners.
In the past, she has shown that she can get into shape quickly. In 2019, she ran the New York City Marathon in 2:28:12, finishing 12th—and third American—after only about 10 weeks of training following a long layoff for a stress fracture.
“I will have more than six months to focus on getting ready for the Olympics, which is plenty of time,” Tuliamuk wrote. “My coach, Ben Rosario, and I have talked through the plan, and I fully trust his guidance. Plus, I’m fortunate to have HOKA NAZ teammates like Kellyn Taylor and Stephanie Bruce who are mothers and have been through this experience before. I’m inspired by women like them who have run very fast after having children.”
Tuliamuk said she told her family and teammates early on in her pregnancy, but they were sworn to secrecy. She also sought guidance from elite marathoner Kara Goucher, who in 2011 ran 2:24:52 at the Boston Marathon seven months after giving birth to her son, Colt.
Elite female athletes often face wrenching choices—do they start a family during their competitive careers or wait until their racing days are over, often in their late 30s, to try to have a baby?
In 2019, runners began talking more openly about the issue of timing pregnancies during a pro career after Alysia Montaño and Allyson Felix revealed in The Shoes & Gear Advertisement - Continue Reading Below.
Nutrition - Weight Loss Olympians Advice on Good Training Partners, Tuliamuk’s training group. The new agreement includes health insurance and protections for athletes who start families while they’re under contract.
All About 75 Hard coronavirus pandemic, which caused the postponement of the Olympics, gave Tuliamuk a short window of extra time to start her family. Additionally, she knew her place on the Olympic team was already secure.
“Starting a family is something Tim and I wanted to do after the Olympics this year,” Tuliamuk wrote. “When COVID changed the timetables and it looked like there wouldn’t be any racing in 2020 at all, we decided to move up our timeline. I talked to Ben and my agent, Hawi Keflezighi, about this decision, and they were both supportive, which made me feel confident in my decision. I have full support from my sponsor, HOKA ONE ONE, which means the world to me.”
The couple gave themselves two months of trying to get pregnant and “hoped for the best,” she wrote. “Lucky for us, it happened immediately.”
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“We still don’t have that many elite athlete moms who started families at the peak of their careers, so it makes sense that people would want to know,” she wrote. “I don’t mind being one of the few examples of women who won’t have to choose between their athletic careers and starting a family.” She plans to breastfeed her baby for at least four months.
Elite runners have had a range of experiences giving birth and then returning to the roads or track. In 2016, Sarah Brown competed in the 1500 meters at the Olympic Trials four months after giving birth. She nursed her daughter, Abigail, in the warmup area before the race. Brown did not advance to the final.
A Pro Runner Is Pregnant. Will She Still Be Paid. Shannon Rowbury, for instance, gave birth to a daughter in June 2018, but she suffered a sacral stress fracture the following February as she was trying to make a comeback, and she missed qualifying for the 2019 world championships. In August this year, she ran 14:45 for 5,000 meters and looks to be a top contender to make the Olympic team in 2021.
In 1990, famed distance runner Liz McColgan of Great Britain gave birth to her daughter, Eilish (now also an elite runner), in late November. The following March, McColgan finished third at the world cross-country championships. By June, she ran 30:57 for 10,000 meters and won the world title in the event in August.
The Best and Worst of the Trials. Molly Seidel When are you due? Do you know the babys gender or are you keeping it a surprise she needed nearly two years to return to top form after childbirth, was third. (Should Tuliamuk be unable to compete in August, Des Linden U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials winner.)
Tuliamuk has been a fan favorite for her effervescent personality and her Etsy store of crocheted beanies, which she began during the injury layoff of 2019. Fans of the sport who manage to score a Tuliamuk-made beanie from Etsy consider themselves lucky; her shop sells out quickly every time she announces new inventory.
She said she is behind on her December orders. Once those are fulfilled, she’ll start making some for her daughter.
Her absence from competition—she hasn’t raced since the U.S. Trials in Atlanta, nor is she entered into the Marathon Project event her coach, Ben Rosario, is putting on in December near Phoenix—suddenly makes sense.
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The baby is due in January. Tuliamuk expects to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in August Runner’s World via email.
DAA Industry Opt Out?
Yes and no. I told my teammates and family of the news early in my pregnancy. My partner, Tim, and I asked our friends, teammates, and family to help me keep the news confidential until I was ready to share it with the world, and they’ve been super helpful that way. Staying active on social media has been challenging. I had to be strategic on how I posted photos once my baby bump started to show. On the other hand, I have loved keeping this within a small circle, because I am always worried that something could be wrong. I have always enjoyed sharing my life with the world, but this has been different.
When are you due? Do you know the baby’s gender or are you keeping it a surprise?
I’m due January 22, we are having a baby girl, and her name will be Zoe. Tim and I picked that name, which means “life.” We chose that name because welcoming Zoe into our family will mark a new chapter in our life, and we know it will be a happy chapter.
DAA Industry Opt Out?
I’m feeling good. The baby and I have been staying active together. For the first 18 weeks, I was still running 70–80 miles per week, intense workouts, and 20-mile long runs. All through my pregnancy, I’ve felt great. I’m not running as fast or as much as I normally do right now, but aside from some occasional discomfort, I don’t feel any different. Getting out to run has been something I look forward to all through my pregnancy. Sometimes I talk to her while running and ask her if she is enjoying it as much as her mother is.
What is your plan to get ready for the Olympics? You’ve proven you can round into form quickly. Are you feeling worried at all about getting into shape again and the sleep deprivation with training? Do you plan to breastfeed?
I will have more than 6 months to focus on getting ready for the Olympics, which is plenty of time. My coach, Ben Rosario, and I have talked through the plan, and I fully trust his guidance. Plus, I’m fortunate to have HOKA NAZ teammates like Kellyn Taylor and Stephanie Bruce who are mothers and have been through this experience before. I’m inspired by women like them who have run very fast after having children.
I do worry a little about being sleep deprived but then I don’t really sleep much at night anyways. I plan to breastfeed for the first 4 or so months. I want my daughter to have all she needs to grow strong and healthy.
Why did you feel like this was the right time to start a family? Not to be too nosy here, but had you given yourself a deadline to get pregnant and if you weren’t by then, you would have stopped trying until after the Olympics?
Starting a family is something Tim and I wanted to do after the Olympics this year. When COVID changed the timetables and it looked there wouldn’t be any racing in 2020 at all, we decided to move up our timeline. I talked to Ben and my agent, Hawi Keflezighi, about this decision, and they were both supportive, which made me feel confident in my decision. I have full support from my sponsor, HOKA ONE ONE, which means the world to me. We did give ourselves 2 months of trying and hoped for the best. Lucky for us, it happened immediately.
Does it feel unfair that so many people will be curious about your pregnancy and no one ever asks male marathoners with big families—like Galen Rupp or Jared Ward—these things?
Maybe a little, but then pregnancy affects the females more than the males. We still don’t have that many elite athlete moms who started families at the peak of their careers, so it makes sense that people would want to know. I don’t mind being one of the few examples of women who won’t have to choose between their athletic careers and starting a family.
Will you have the baby in Flagstaff or Santa Fe? Will you have any help at home?
We will have our baby in Santa Fe, then head back to Flagstaff when the serious training starts. We are lucky, because Tim has a good and potentially flexible job as a physician assistant. He can still work half the week and still get good hours. We have also talked about taking our daughter to daycare when she is a little older, so she can learn to live with other kids.
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Kellyn and Steph have been very supportive and helpful, as have Kara Goucher and our friends with kids. Of course, we all recognize that every child is different, so we will have to see.
Olympians Advice on Good Training Partners?
I’m super excited about this new journey. Throughout my pregnancy, I’ve been gravitating to stories about other runners who are mothers. Women athletes excite and inspire me more than ever right now. I love hearing messages of support and inspiration from other women as well as some of the challenges they go through. In addition to my teammates, I have enjoyed reading about Allyson Felix and Alysia Montaño. I hope I can inspire other women as well. I want to share my story and show women that having a family can add so much to your life, and that you don’t have to sacrifice your goals in order to be a mother.
CA Notice at Collection?
I am a procrastinator. I am finishing up my December beanies inventory, which sold out in a couple hours, then I will make my daughter a few of her own.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World The Best and Worst of the Trials, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
